Taping Breakers

[willbb123]

Dude, if you have a mail server in your audio rack with a dirty UPS, I'd say you have a few more issues than people taping over breakers.

As for taping over breakers, the things are designed to trip, whether held closed or not. Has anyone seen the high voltage switches where the lever can be padlocked in the "on" position?

On the switch panels that I have seen (I also work in the electrical department in a hardware store) the psychical switch is just a switch. When in the on position the switch moves and connects the terminals. Not all those boxes have fuses in them. In the event of an overload in a fused box, the fuse blows requiring the fuse to be replaced, having no effect on the handle.

I wouldnt tape over a breaker ever... It will probably will still flip, but I dont want to take that chance. Ive put tape next to the breaker and said do not flip. Or painted red on or by the breaker that can not be flipped. Personally I have never used a lock.

 

[philhaney]

Has anyone seen the high voltage switches where the lever can be padlocked in the "on" position?

On the switch panels that I have seen ... the psychical switch is just a switch. When in the on position the switch moves and connects the terminals. Not all those boxes have fuses in them. In the event of an overload in a fused box, the fuse blows requiring the fuse to be replaced, having no effect on the handle. ... Personally I have never used a lock.

Here you go:

Note: The breaker is locked on (if you put a lock in the handle shaped area). Breakers are designed so you can lock them on to prevent accidental (or on-purposefull) tripping during a critical moment (like your show), but will still trip if an overload condition occurs.

 

[willbb123]

Here you go:

Note: The breaker is locked on (if you put a lock in the handle shaped area). Breakers are designed so you can lock them on to prevent accidental (or on-purposefull) tripping during a critical moment (like your show), but will still trip if an overload condition occurs.

Huh I have never seen one like that, and we stock alot of C-H.

When I read his post I was thinking about a swich box like this.

 

[TimMiller]

The cuttler hammer and others that can be locked on are fairly common on switch boards so that you can lock on emergency loads (you dont want anyone to accidently turn off your generator power in a hospital) Or to lock them off, for Lock Out Tag Out.

 

[tjrobb]

Sorry to necro-post, but I have a couple comments.

First, if you are worried, tape it only half-way. IE, let the breaker move towards the TRIP setting, but not the other way. This let you label the breaker, have a visual reminder, and not worry about it tripping properly. I do this with our fire alarm breaker at the temporary theatre.

Second, most 15A and 20A single-pole breakers are rated SWD (they will have a label). This means they are designed to switch fluorescent lighting loads. While this doesn't allay all fears, know that they are rated for it.

 

[MNicolai]

It doesn't matter how it is labeled or taped. Circuit breakers are designed to fail in the "ON" position. They do not need to move to trip to open the circuit. There are even small metal bands you can purchase that slip over the breaker handle which can ne tightened via a small screw. These are commonly used on emergency lighting circuits and life-dependent loads. It's very acceptable to use these to ensure circuits are kept live provided they are not overloaded and subsequently tripped.


However, I have to put my three cents in from an organizational standpoint, which is that nothing isore irritating than going into a panel to find a bunch if breakers taped like they may or may not be important. I would advise a clean, legible labeling system be used that does not provide any confusion to someone when they open the panel for servicing or operation.

Taping or locking circuit breakers will not bring harm to a system, but it may bring unnecessary confusion to those using or examining it, and should be a practice used sparingly and appropriately.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dionysus]

And in comes the ELECTRICIAN to answer the question for once and for all...

First, some people brought up the "boxes with levers that can be locked up or down". THESE ARE NOT BREAKERS! These are knife switches with FUSES inside, one for each phase. If the handle is still up, (thus the knife switch closed) the circuit can still open (in part or in whole). When the fuses go, the handle DOES NOT MOVE. Hopefully there is an interlock in place in many of these situations to "open" the other phases, to prevent things from still operating and causing damage. Not always the case.

SECOND, there are many types of breakers. SOME are designed to still trip with the handle "locked" on. This is a common practise for things like fire-alarm systems where you don't want them turned off accidentally. This is completely legal, IF the breakers are designed in this way.
You can buy locks for these panelboards (breaker boxes, etc) that are designed for this purpose. Note that some of these are designed so that the breaker handle can still reach the "tripped" position, and others are not.
SOME breakers are designed so they STAY ON when the handle is "locked on", it is illegal to lock these on.

THIRD, in general most tape will still give way to the breaker to move to the "tripped" position.

It should be re-iterated that these breakers, may or may-not be designed to be "switched" on a regular basis. Many breakers actually degrade over time when you keep switching them off regularly. These breakers are meant for OVERCURRENT PROTECTION and as a DISCONNECTING MEANS, not as a regular switch. If you are using them often to turn something on-and-off every day you should think about hiring an electrician to come in and install an appropriate switch(es), in a more convenient place even to use most of the time.


And yes the breaker locks can also be installed to lock a circuit breaker "off" as a safety precaution (In Canada at least you MUST use a "lockout tag" that clearly says that it should not be turned on, etc). This is also not for a circuit that is no-longer "installed". The breaker should be REMOVED. I've seen people do that before.


Anyways, so as long as these breakers are designed to still trip when mechanically interfered with, it's all good. However It's probably just as good idea to install another method for power-down or just to clearly label the ones to stay on.

 

[MillburyAuditorium]

I'm not even that dumb :/

Our "sound box" or rack as we call it with our two amps is located backstage near the dimmers, we just plug in our Snake at the beggining of the season, run the snake back to the board, and when speakers are needed just turn both amps on.

It took us an hour to figure out why no sound was coming out of the speakers even though they were on, someone decided, oh, instead of turning the amps off, we will just turn the volume down :/

Im sick of people messing up our EQ xD

 

[ship]

There is lockout breakers available especially for safety lighting on the market, work well and as said the breaker would still work even if not able to manually shut off. On the other hand I don't think I would install such a thing as it removes part B' as it were from having a circuit breaker/switch out of safety reasons. Should there be a problem you wll no longer be able to trip the breaker manually. The circuit breakers are also not switches and while you can use them as such they do wear out faster than a switch in tripping or not turning on more easily when used as a switch after time. Instead of turning off the breakers you should have for the sound a relay switch and panel installed so as to turn off the power to the sound gear. Simple done and only one button to push if not a few remote locations that could activate the sound power.

The other option is as per our main breaker panels that also have the overhead lighting is to use tape along the sides of the panel where the number of the breakers is imprinted on the face panel to the panel. Some tape with label marked "Sound" and or "do not turn off" without on the breakers is easy enough to read and comply with. This in addition to a system of tracking who has the guns as it were in shutting down the system for the night. Our's is computer tracked in lockup but a sheet to fill out is tremendously useful to sign when closing up and complying with the lockup list of things to do at the end of the night. Checking doors shutting down certain lights etc. Heck, even putting out the ghost light for the night and closing the fire curtain if not a spare lamp for the ghost light located in the stage manager's podium.