Untangle the Mysteries of Control Panel Wiring!

[@EndlessDelusion]

At my previous place there were many pallet machines and I was trained as an apprentice on how to fault find inside them. Was always fun to see what temporary repairs were still in there 10 years later after getting frustrated that the electric diagrams were now not conforming to what exists. A top tip I would give is when you have an old electrical cabinet with no documentation, draw your circuit on a piece of paper as you go so you don't have to do mental gymnastics remembering what controls what. If it is equipment you will be working on for a long time, label what each contactor and relay does on the cable conduit.

[@efixx]

The classic plant maintenance “temporary permanent “

[@andylombardi2815]

Trunking lids off, some totally missing, cables hanging like a spider's web. Multicores coming into a terminal rail which connects to another Multicores which then runs up the trunking, across the top, then down into a set of terminals further up the same rail. Did the installer cut their original cables short? 😉

[@jix177]

If it works it's not temporary!

[@robertburrows6612]

That's a baby control panel,.. some of the control panels I dealt with, you open them up and wished you haven't they bare no resemblance to the site log or wiring diagrams, you spend the next weekend constantly working on it and numerous calls to the Samaritans

[@tombickerton5909]

Eddie and his team are a real credit to the industry. He’s a lovely bloke who always has time for you no matter how busy he is . A very good man and a top electrician.

[@efixx]

Totally agree Tom 👍🏻

[@tombickerton5909]

@@efixx he’s my inspiration and hero but don’t tell him that lol

[@GSHElectrical]

I will tell him Tom 😀

[@eddie_pegasus_electrical]

Thank you Tom for such nice comments. I could quite easily say that about you too. 👊😎👍💙

[@carlrobson5745]

As a control panel builder myself that is a nice neat job credit to the guy that wired that nothing worse than opening an emcloser and all the cables jump out to greet you,

[@andycrask3531]

Ha ha yes when it looks like a snakes wedding 😂

[@eddie_pegasus_electrical]

Thank you 👊😎👍💙

[@beeautomation]

Stunning panel Eddie! Love seeing MCB auxiliary’s being used like that 👌🏼

[@eddie_pegasus_electrical]

Thank you 👊😎👍💙

[@phillipdebono7576]

Very nice work as a controls engineer it very warming to see this level of panel build very clean and easy to read nice workmanship if only all panels were like this in the field

[@eddie_pegasus_electrical]

Thank you 👊😎👍💙

[@JohnThomas-lq5qp]

Was an commercial electrician and seldom had schematics to help troubleshoot. Hardest part was troubleshooting intermittent problems. Had one huge panel that a single 20 amp 120 volt transformer with only a single 20 amp fuse feed over 20 remote solenoids, 12 motor starters, lights and probably 30 micro switches. At least once a day it would blow 20 amp fuse. Boss finally allowed me to install about a dozen in line fuse holders to direct us to what section had a intermittent short.

[@acespark1]

Great for many to see but some of us design, build and fault find in panels like this on the daily. Also many older panels have no drawings and have been messed with by several people before you get there

[@PHealey1981]

Yesssssssssssssss!!!!! Panels!! Hear me out. This should be a designated national course. I did an I.C.A HNC but firmly believe it should be approached from Level 2 and 3 first.

[@beeautomation]

100% agree… It’s a travesty UK sparks don’t get controls training in their training

[@ireeus.]

It would be great to see more videos related to control panel wiring. Explaining the bs en 60204 which is not in the scope of bs 7671. Also testing procedures etc 😊

[@piotrlobacz]

I have spotted a couple of non compliances against BS 60204. No continuity of bonding from MET to the door. How it is done in this panel is non compliance. Also identification of components should not be placed on the trunking but adjacent to or on a component itself.

[@ireeus.]

​​@@piotrlobacz what should it be the earth bonding in order to comply? Directly from the met to the termination point?

[@andrewtadd4373]

​@piotrlobacz looks like a plastic box and door so not required. If metal then very much needed

[@piotrlobacz]

​@@ireeus. yes earth bonding to each stud on the enclosure should be uninterrupted. On video there is one running to stud in the enclosure then from that to the door stud.

[@piotrlobacz]

​@@andrewtadd4373it is definitely not a plastic enclosure it wouldn't have bonding studs otherwise.

[@robbiemulholland6477]

Really nice panel. The numbering system and drawings make fault finding relatively simple. I work in the plastics industry and have machines dating back to the late 70’s. Some have drawings, but most don’t 😩😩

[@cerealkiller4248]

I used to work for a multinational company, I was a shift mechanical engineer who worked alongside an electrician and support worker in the facilities dept. One day I had a new electrician working on shift and we has a problem - an AHU had tripped, and it was critical to production. We attended the plant room and I opened up the panel, the wiring practically fell out to meet us, there were zero drawings available. I reached inside and reset an overload on a 3 phase contractor, something I’d done many times. Later the electrician confided to me he’d sh1t himself when I opened the panel door 😂😂😂 The panels ( of which we had hundreds ) were typical of the factory, you learn to appreciate a new neatly fitted panel with a drawing

[@andrewofford1533]

Thats a very neat Installation.

[@Ruairi.C]

I feel I watched a video recently of an electrician doing a fault find on a simular panel. He got the job done in the end but there was a struggle. I won't mention him by name, but he got it done is the main thing.

[@gareththwaite5128]

Nice video. I know technical this panel isn't a machine, I personally like to see bs 60204 applied to control panels.

[@emilgemc8913]

Some of the control pannels i work in Science A big tech corporate in surrey area are some control pannels with a 200 different Sensors cables we wiring up are a big machines and hydraulic engines Staines steal which costing up to 4 million

[@satanicimpact]

I love how cabling the panel.

[@jamesmacleod6754]

Nice video guys, just wanted to my penny-worth to the request for more content on control panels, finding accessible guidanceon control panel standards seems quite difficult

[@efixx]

On it

[@johnwarwick4105]

Cable numbers and a schematic, next you will tel me there is a plc logic printout 🤣. Seriously that's a nice panel. Electrician is an all encompassing term, there are at least three separate trades in the one trade. You have your domestic sparks, commercial installers and maintenance electricians. The only common factor is it makes you jump if you get hold of it 🤣🤣. We all do a-bit of each others trade but it's horses for courses in reality.

[@simonmartin3433]

Bang right mate.

[@derrickstableford8152]

Nice work, only suggestion would be to change the terminals for spring loaded. Less build time, less loosening of the terminal. Ok the problem is use in corrosion prone areas such as those with chlorine, condensation.

[@beeautomation]

100% .. WAGO terminal blocks all the way 👌🏼

[@CommercialGasEngineerVideos]

Good video, thanks, time well spent here.

[@BenWiggins101]

Great vid

[@johnhoward2104]

Lovely!

[@ashyum6913]

Can you make a video of simple wiring diagram explanation

[@beeautomation]

I’ve got one 🙂👍🏼

[@sergiofernandez3725]

Interesting stuff. Would be good to see more of this type of content. Good stuff eFIXX and Pegasus Electrical. Question. Could you add something like a Sheely into the mix to do remote monitoring or diagnostics? (dependant on internet connectivity)

[@eddie_pegasus_electrical]

Thank you 👊😎👍💙 Client option not to have connected to the internet. Though wouldn’t be difficult to adapt at a later date if client requires.

[@sergiofernandez3725]

@@eddie_pegasus_electrical I totally understand that not everyone wants or needs things connected to the internet. Keep up the good work.

[@andycrask3531]

Looks like a crouzet PLC. Nice capable units relatively cheap too with free software unlike most other brands.

[@andrewtadd4373]

@andycrask3531, millennium 3 looking at it, good units, have done a gsm telemetry system controling the pumps on an AD plant with one in the past.

[@eddie_pegasus_electrical]

Yes they are Crouzet M3s . I’ve found very cost effective and pretty much bulletproof, surprising what you can get them to do. Memory size biggest downfall IMHO.

[@Mike_5]

Wooooo scary panels seem to make some Electricians scared but like here they just need a logical fault process!!

[@beeautomation]

Just lots of small circuits when you breakdown a panel isn’t it 🙂

[@mfx1]

Many of those connections were cage clamp types and ferrules/crimps aren't needed for them.

[@PHealey1981]

…never have I left site in the middle of the night having left a pump in hand…🤦‍♂️🥴🥴😆

[@beeautomation]

I see newly “commissioned” systems left in hand 😂

[@BenWiggins101]

Been there, done that 🙈😂

[@octymocty132]

Going so well untill you spoke as a true house basher about seprate earth bar in a C U Would have been nice to explain the wire colours ( hi to low volt ) for people who don't work on proper electrical jobs very nice clean job hats off builder

[@cliveramsbotty6077]

class 2 fittings though. he noticed the class 2 fittings. did you notice the class 2 fittings. they were class 2.

[@rexsonmadman]

Not to be too pedantic but, all those wire numbers are reading in the wrong direction.

[@rexsonmadman]

@@pab26120 I have always understood that the numbering should read away from the thing it's connected to. Yes, you might have to tilt your head multiple times to follow a circuit. Not sure about the rules here 🤷‍♂

[@BenWiggins101]

Usually reads away from term, or tilt head to left, many different combinations especially when you start with source/destination markers. Mostly I've found that it's client specification dependant, probably stems from which country the panel is going to

[@irechopshop]

Why are some Electricians scared of control panels, once you have a drawing child’s play

[@danielthorne3088]

Perhaps they don't all have drawings?

[@stevejagger8602]

Who can still read circuit diagrams? Is that art still taught? I grew up with electronics experimentation from the 1960's and eventually qualified as an electrical and electronic engineer so it's second nature to be able to read circuit diagrams.

[@irechopshop]

@@danielthorne3088 i served my time in the early 80’s before motile phones, the company philosophy was it was working, so just fix it, i have spent days on site doing drawings, and then fixing the problem

[@beeautomation]

Because the unknown is scary… certainly not child’s play but not as bad as people think.

[@BenWiggins101]

Drawings? What are they? Lol. I just get told what mods they want and have to make up my control as I go lol.

[@aaron74]

Just a beautiful dressing inside, it's a shame the panel is opaque lol

[@obd6HsN]

How much was the customer charged for this panel?

[@sylvianorah1367]

You are not allowing him to explain

[@uk53781]

The cable numbering way of doing things is so stupid and needs phasing out of the industry. Just lable the component.

[@johnaphone]

So you have a panel with 100 beldons with no numbers, just sensor 1 - 100 in the field. Good luck troubleshooting that. If anything, putting an ident on every core should be mandatory

[@andycrask3531]

When you have worked on a panel with 100s of cables going to satellite panels all bundled on ladder or in ducting. With the pressure of a multimillion pound company wanting to know why their machine has stopped. You will be extremely greatful of numbered cables.

[@robertburrows6612]

That's a baby control panel, I've worked on control panels that would dwaf that by a factor of 30 plus, there a nightmare when nothing is s numbered and they been repaired number of times over the years and you can guarantee the wiring diagrams are well out of date because of the old components weren't available and they had to use a modern equivalent of new equipment been installed and they rewired the panel to make it work with the new machinery.

[@pn8902]

You have no idea what youre talking about, Label the component what?? Call it Relay 1, then what? which cable is going to the load, which is the supply? They will all be brown/blue. Basic electricians cant have an opinion on how things are done because all they know is "put brown here and blue there and it will work". Control panels need a lot more knowledge. Dont mean to offend any electricians but that's just how it is, and if you dont feel like that then you're more than a basic electrician so you're good :)

[@andrewtadd4373]

You really need to give your head a shake, you clearly have no idea what you are talking about.