Johan's Phase Linear 700B Fully Comp Conversion

[laatsch55]

An option to raise the benches for those who do the wiring would be a nice touch. Got any contracts for Spoc Automation yet?

 

[Phase Linear Phanatic]

An option to raise the benches for those who do the wiring would be a nice touch. Got any contracts for Spoc Automation yet?

That's the bummer of it. We have these tables which for tall guys SUCK. And we DO have higher ones, but they are only wide enough for single door panels. So if you are told to wire a five door.......guess what? Your bending over on a low bench my friend. (sigh).

I haven't seen a contract from them yet. That panel in the photo is for Crown cork and Barrel. I assume by the name it's wine manufacturing. We get a LOT of that. Gallo, Sutter Home, etc. It's possible we have? I just looked them up. Oil fields? That's you Lee. The warning stickers are the same as we apply here on our panels. The cabinets look nice too.

I also worked part time for a company that made site glasses for oil line manifolds or something? Emerson magnets on one end and site glass on top, with an electronic monitor on the other end. High, low and intermediate. I think it measured oil levels in tanks? Not sure.........was a ways back................

 

[Gepetto]

You want to talk wiring? Try this in one day. My handiwork. It's the reason I don't feel inclined to do it in my off hours. What little I have. Gonna see Joe about getting a blue White oak board for the meters on this 700B. I opened her up and there was a mountain of dust and cobwebs inside. The pots are scratchy too. It needs some house cleaning. That wire rack keeps going! If ya need it, we got it! THHN, MTW? Whatever your specialty!

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Nice neat wiring Dave. Love the service loops...

 

[Phase Linear Phanatic]

Nice neat wiring Dave. Love the service loops...

Thank you Joe. I tend to be a bit OCD. What sucked was wiring that blue DC to all the motor starter coils. In no way can i have it anywhere near the three phase 480v in the pandit wire way. So I had to lay it down in between the MCP's and the coils. After that; the variable frequency motor drives were the simple part. LOTS of wire tho! I tend to look at my wiring as art sometimes. Which does kinda slow me down. I might have even replaced new wire ties on my 700B because some were different shades of white and it bugged me. I've been told once the field gets ahold of it; it all gets messed up anyway. But you have to think if you were the customer buying a new car, you wouldn't want a blemish on it. Even though your kids are gonna beat the crap out of it. (There go french fries down the AC vents)...... It will never stay nice. But IF you buy that car with dings, you wont be happy. So i wire that way. Some of these panels are in the millions.

I think we did something using military grade wire years before I was employed here. A lot of these guys came from the military. One was an army ranger. He has some serious stories! But as a result, we "might" have some of that wire. I thought I saw it. I will check tomorrow at work.

 

[laatsch55]

How do you make your legend plates?

 

[Phase Linear Phanatic]

How do you make your legend plates?

Our phenolics? We have an engraver machine which uses a colored 12"x12" square plastic sheet which sits atop a moving table. The engraver blade screwed into the spindle the uses the computer program to etch into that plastic whatever I set my parameters to. Sometimes those parameters are defined by the customer; others, I pull out of my @&)! Once done; we use a double sided sticky tape on a roll by 3M to adhere to the back-panel. Sometimes the customer wants holes punched in them and screwed down. It depends on panel specs at the time. Usually on the outside of the panel on the main enclosure we will affix the main enclosure ID the same way along with the outside power sources warning and other warnings; the PPE warning and yellow triangle shock hazard notifications. Others as well again based on customer preference. We even affixed one with the VFD motor amperage ratings on the panel.

 

[laatsch55]

Black over white then etch off the black?

 

[jbeckva]

Wow Dave, nice work man!

 

[Phase Linear Phanatic]

Black over white then etch off the black?

Correct.All the sheets are dual color. An example of what happens when you get slow one night using the engraver.......................

 

[laatsch55]

O love that kinda shit!!

 

[Phase Linear Phanatic]

Wow Dave, nice work man!

I first want to apologize to taking over Johans restore thread. This was not my intent. I really do love my job and electronics. It's why I love Phoenix, and respect those of higher minds than me like Lee and Joe and Jerr. I am but a humble wire tech. Well; and OCD one anyway. I learn from the older guys every day and every day it's something new. That's why I respect those in this profession. And I like to take pride in my work. So i can be a bit nit picky. (sorry for clipping those neon yellow wire ties on your 700B Jerr. I had to use white when u received it back. Even though nobody sees it)

It's not ALWAYS control panels though? I got to wire a really neat Project called "the skid" It was a tank machine that made tequilla! We wired the panels, put them in a stainless steel enclosure, and mounted that enclosure on the customers OWN TANK! They had it hauled to our shop. That was field wiring we got to do in house. On my shift, I was the only one they would let near it. I guess this particular customer was a HUGE stickler for details. The black wiring you see coming into the side of the panel at 90 degree angles was me. I had to think somehow to make it look good. To tell you the truth, it's probably the only time I have really been pressured to come up with an idea on my own for a client and not just given a direction. It's cool when your bosses show trust in you like that. Big motors were the toughest for me to deal with. As the wiring for them sat underneath the tank and its support railing. Large shielded four conductor 12awg VFD motor wiring into the panel was a bitch. I had to shoot studs on the inner wall to hold it in place. That's what you are seeing there in the S curve. Still......................I miss the component level work I used to be so knowledgeable in like Lee and Joe. It's been so long since I have applied it. Before all this I was a structural Steel CAD/Drafting and design guy at a desk for six years. Boring and not near as fun!

 

[laatsch55]

Nice work Dave, you could wire pump panels for me any day...

 

[laatsch55]

5 HP is not what we call big motors, that's the smallest we use. The largest a 300...

 

[Phase Linear Phanatic]

5 HP is not what we call big motors, that's the smallest we use. The largest a 300...

Agreed. I meant that in retrospect to having to maneuver my large body around the things to get to the wiring on the inside of the skid. Because you know......they couldn't face the access on the outside. Too easy. In fact we usually wire to motor starter drives that are as big as that motor itself. They power 40HP to 200HP devices in the field. I don't wire those actual motors of course as I am not a field tech. That skid was a rare time and that device is inside a plant. I assume to start an oil pump, you'd need much higher amperage and a gigantic motor. Not something we deal with. And outside our particular scope of work. We do a lot of automated control panels for process control and manufacturing lines in a factory setting. Bottling your beer, making your soaps, etc.......

 

[laatsch55]

Somebody's gotta do it..

 

[laatsch55]

Gotta make a run to Fastenal for some 4-40 stainless Allen heads for the DC protect. Be right back...

 

[laatsch55]

Just love the way those Stainless Allen heads look...

 

[laatsch55]

Buttoned up at the caps and headed east....

 

[laatsch55]

South side done....

 

[Skynyrd77]

looking like your moving right along!! looks great