Old Panel

Status
Not open for further replies.
mdshunk

mdshunk

Senior Member
Location
Right here.
Yep, one of those old slate backboard panels. The town hall in my town (where the code enforcement office is located, by the way) has several of them installed. Since they are live in front just by opening the cabinet door, the "fix" was to install a padlock hasp and padlock on the cabinet door. Problem solved.
 
mdshunk

mdshunk

Senior Member
Location
Right here.
That appears to be a 240 only panel, but most of those panels that were 120/240 also had fuses in the neutral.

Note the open kinfe switches in that picture going up through the middle (with the black wooden handles). You don't reach for these handles if you've had too much caffine and your hands are shaky.
 
mdshunk

mdshunk

Senior Member
Location
Right here.
mpross said:
ah yes, or not enough caffeine :)
Click to expand...
Maybe so. Moving those old open knife switches is like playing a live action version of the game "Operation".

When I first started out in this trade, I often did work in an old hotel with a very large live front panelboard. It was in its own room. It was almost 6' tall, and about 10 or 12 feet long. Mounted on slate, with enough copper buss bars to have supplied a pretty good war effort. It was amazing how much heat rolled off that thing. It pretty well kept the room in which it was mounted warm. I never really appreciated how special that board was, because it was one of my early exposures. I mistakenly thought that they were everywhere. You hardly ever see them anymore. The last one I saw was in an old elevator control room. The elevator (which is still in service today) was made by "The Conestoga Elevator Company" (no joke). I guess when the wagon business fell off, they started making elevators.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top