Tightening every lug

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JoeNorm

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We've had some issues within our company over the years with not tightening every screw/lug within the respective job. This has not led to any catastrophe yet, but has caused some unnecessary troubleshoots and display of poor workmanship to our clients.

The question is what steps do you all take to make sure everything is tight? On the one hand this is the job description of an electrician and obvious. Just do it, right? But we're all human and are able to miss things.

Is there a protocol to guarantee we are leaving a job without loose connections? One way would be to have a second person double checking all connections, but is this feasible and realistic?

thanks
 
Multi tasking and "Friday afternoon" syndrome are usual factors for this failure in any industry.
 
What kind of lugs are you asking about? Small conductors like #12 can be tightened by hand until tight and those connections should be fine (yes the NEC requires them to be torqued).

On large conductors I find that most of the guys I work with don't really care if the lug is properly tightened. They snug it up with a 8" ratchet handle and it's good enough.

I have checked some of their connections with a torque wrench and literally got several complete turns on the set screw. I see that as a supervisor problem where there is no insistence on properly torquing every connection.

Having someone go back to check all of the connections is costly. A professional electrician should not need someone to follow them up and check their connections.
 
"Random sampling" seems to work best.
Way too costly to have to check behind every job.
Have supervision check randomly and document as needed. Just knowing there is a procedure often improves results.
 
Most "electricians" I have dealt with locally are extremely unaware of the requirements in the code [2017 NEC 110.14(D)] for proper torqueing of terminals.
And most don't even have a copy of the code book.
 
they make paint markers for this purpose. after you torque the bolt down you mark it to indicate it has been torqued.

to be honest, i find that over torquing is more of a problem than not torquing.

this kind of marker can also be used to tell if someone has tampered with the bolt.

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I just had a 400 amp panel board where the factory forgot to tighten the buss bar connection to the main breaker. Started putting loads on it, and heard a sizzling. Took it back apart checked every breaker and wire connection, then noticed a loose washer on the breaker to buss connection. Turned out, all three were loose.
 
hillbilly1 said:
I just had a 400 amp panel board where the factory forgot to tighten the buss bar connection to the main breaker. Started putting loads on it, and heard a sizzling. Took it back apart checked every breaker and wire connection, then noticed a loose washer on the breaker to buss connection. Turned out, all three were loose.
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I've had that, and developed the habit of checking in new panels.
 
hillbilly1 said:
I just had a 400 amp panel board where the factory forgot to tighten the buss bar connection to the main breaker. Started putting loads on it, and heard a sizzling. Took it back apart checked every breaker and wire connection, then noticed a loose washer on the breaker to buss connection. Turned out, all three were loose.
Click to expand...
we have had similar problems. not much you can do about someone else's work. and it is impractical to check it all, other than through a quick visual inspection.
 
Customer with a pump panel that was tripping overloads. A few weeks, but sold and installed by someone else. They had several look at it and POCO finally called me. Just a few minutes to find a never tightened factory connection and present a minimum billing. Customer thought I overcharged of course.
 
I once ran into a control panel in the field made by someone else that the control wires on the panel side at the terminal strip were not tightened down. I happened on it by yanking on a couple wires that just came out with no resistance at all while debugging some weird problem.
 
ptonsparky said:
Customer thought I overcharged of course.
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"$150 to tighten one simple bolt?!"
bugey.gif


"No, that's only $1.00. The rest is for knowing which bolt to tighten."
nuts.gif
 
Just summarize a lot of the above--I have always checked factory connections randomly in a panel

Always run a marker across each field made connection and date/initial it after witnessing or doing the torqueing--

When I was supervising I would do the random drop in and check

Had different colors for each person
 
JoeNorm said:
We've had some issues within our company over the years with not tightening every screw/lug within the respective job. This has not led to any catastrophe yet, but has caused some unnecessary troubleshoots and display of poor workmanship to our clients.

The question is what steps do you all take to make sure everything is tight? On the one hand this is the job description of an electrician and obvious. Just do it, right? But we're all human and are able to miss things.

Is there a protocol to guarantee we are leaving a job without loose connections? One way would be to have a second person double checking all connections, but is this feasible and realistic?

thanks
Click to expand...
instill a QA system that includes documentation of the equipment, ie - motor nameplate, vfd or starter size, torque specs. Include pictures of the equipment that includes a worker signoff. It encourages ownership to deliver a quality product. This is also a nice turnover document for the customer. We utilize iPads for this.
 
JennyElectrician said:
instill a QA system that includes documentation of the equipment, ie - motor nameplate, vfd or starter size, torque specs. Include pictures of the equipment that includes a worker signoff. It encourages ownership to deliver a quality product. This is also a nice turnover document for the customer. We utilize iPads for this.
Click to expand...
We have the guy who does the torquing write the torque value on the drawing and initial it.
 
Bank of America requires it on everything, even receptacles. They have a double custody sheet where if you need to turn off a breaker, no mater how small, you are supposed to get approval from corporate, then sign off that you turned it off, then a second person signs off that you did turn it off, then the same when you turn it back on.
 
I wonder how many breakers spontaneously "trip"?

Instilling a sense of personal QA helps a lot; like when you're done in a panel, take another minute to see if anything is obviously loose. Likewise to properly torquing bolts the first time.
After that, ransom spot checks are a good way to go.
Remember that it's really hard to check to see if a bolt was properly torqued without loosening first.... (as much discussed in earlier threads about the subject).
 
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