Re: Arcing Conneictions
While the female frequently is a little less arched or carbonized, carbon don't conduct well so such a connection should be looked at if not cleaned, sprayed in coating the bright work, if not replaced.
Getting back to the main concept, it's all about surface area for
current to flow. A pin that's not spread too well won't conduct that well due to surface area in conctact with the
connector. Same thing that happens when you
hot patch as that
plug is removed. Once damage is done, either that carbon residue or even arching damage done don't conduct that well by way of surface area now left in contact for the next connection. "Urr, hot patching bad..., ok now?"
At times esecially after a
hot patch on a
Socapex plug, you can do some work to them - and I tend to white paint marker over the carbon deposits what was cleaned at the tip so as to say - it's ok. What was treated is also coated with electrical contact cleaner with lubricant after done. I tend to prefer fine grit fiber wheel over a rifle cleaning brush - though I have a full cleaning kit left over from the military days. Brass brushes while soft still tend to scratch the heck out of a pin or
socket unless soft enough - and often they are not. Solves the cleaning problem but once the pin or
socket is scratched too hard, you go back to the same problem you had before with lack of surface area in contact. Hmm. say a 36 grit sandpaper out of metal verses a 400 grit sandpaper out of metal - which would have a better surface contact in conducting?
Scratch the heck out of your pin or
socket and I don't think even with Craig's copper impregnated deoxident you are doing a favor to anything. If you do a bristle brush, needs to be very soft, and if soft while it will shine up the bright work, it won't solve an arching problem in less surface contact. Still though for light work, and assuming a .25" size of
stage pin, a .227 M-16/AR-15 type rifle cleaning brush should work if you clip away the tip that is there for wrapping and doesn't have bristles. This granted, you clip away the tip and the bristles fall apart a
bit easier. McMaster should
stock such brushes and perhaps a better end cleaning brass brush than a rifle one. This for cleaning carbon when arching isn't present. While often the carbon will be at the tip, the brass bristles won't on a rifle cleaning brush clean much inside it.
Got real problems with the Pinsplitter II versions currently on the market - and pissed someone stole my Version I. I'm told that the reason for making them out of plastic now is due to someone electricuting themselves with an aluminum version. Find it doubtful this
stage lore. The newer version does a good job for 20A plugs in spreading and gapping them, but is almost useless for 60A plugs. More important is that the bristles are too abrasive on male pins cleaned. They scratch the heck out of them - sort of like the 36 grit sandpaper analogy above. That's clean but won't conduct well. I would recommend to anyone that buys a modern pinsplitter that you before use clamp it into a bench vise and either install some 1/4" pencil
stock or the shaft of a cut off 1/4" long
bolt into your drill and drill the heck out of that brass brush on the pinsplitter so it won't be as agressive.
Current Pinsplitter II's are very poorly designed and far too rough on pins.
At work, I tend to use 1/4" soft fiber dremmel tool wheels for work on
stage pin sockets - rare but at times necessary.
Leko department stocks a
roll of 1" wide Chrocus Cloth for working on pins after that for the male side. Clamp the
plug in a vise and brighten up that pin. After either, 7437k15 from McMaster Carr is always used after blowing off the surface to coat the bright work. I use it on 2K moving lamps
thru 5Kw
Fresnel sockets and lamps, and all plugs surfaced.
At a certain
point though all plugs or sockets are too damaged and even if cleaned wouldn't have a good surface area. Stuff with big blobs of weld, or too pitted to provide a good surface area. That or when more cost effective to just replace such as on VL-3K or Mac2K XB fixtures. G-9.5 sockets are not worth fixing as with at a certain
point stage pin or
Soco sockets that get too warn out to fix. Their sockets stretch out at times with use and cleaning will buff it up, but if on the entire
socket as opposed to the tip, what cleaning was done will not allow future good contact. Carbon can be cleaned but if arching down the
socket or other problems, you cannot save it.
Note to self, time for the annual 60A
stage pin cable and
fixture re-tightening. A every year type of thing with cable settling and expansion & contraction. Can also see that with 30A plugs. CamLoc type plugs if tensioned with torque wrench properly set - normally not. That is if you use a calibrated torque wrench for those terminals. That could also be a source for heating up even to the surface of the pin. Were the screws tensioned properly? At times a problem on a
plug or
socket could be internal. Rattle test on a twist or
Edison plug often works, but on
stage pin, they often rattle. Loose terminals caused the problem? Often a good idea to if one sees a problem to be suspect about everything local to that problem = meaning you also open up the
plug and check that it was furreled, crimped, flagged properly. Even if not loose in screw, did the screw penetrate the
ferrule in cutting conductors thus more resistance? Did they use a double
ferrule for 16ga
wire in a 12ga
ferrule or at least
bend the
wire back on itself to make it 13
gauge and not as easily cut
thru?
If a problem with the outer part of the
plug, one should open up the inner part of the
plug so as to see if damage there or the actual cause of the problem. That includes not using a
circuit in this case that has a
panel mount until school maintinence or the staff can open up the box in ensuring connections to the
socket were not also effected.
Got a bad
plug... probably a bad
socket also.
Hot to fix it important in really fixing it.
After that, check the internal wiring also in that it could have been the cause and or effected by it.
I would flag any gear and circuits with problems for non-use until properly inspected and replaced or fixed. Would also seriously work on any modern pinsplitter brushes and still open the
plug to test tension and inspect how it was wired.
