Discolered Breaker Terminals

I hope this is a joke.

CALL SOMEONE WHO KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT ELECTRICITY!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT OPERATE THE MOTORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU COULD KILL PEOPLE, EVEN YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If the other people are lucky.

Really?

Um...change the breaker. Get an electrician to change the breaker.

It's a shame we can't send dope slaps through the internet.

Or, better yet, electric shocks!

Or buy policy's on them. $$$$

policy's policies

--Ed. C.

tell me you're joking??? you must be pulling my leg!!

Pretty SCARY!! Let's hope they have a enough sense to stop and call someone qualified to make the required repairs.

Hi Roelexile, Yes, there is a problem. It may not be just the breaker. It wold also be helpful to know the voltage, single or 3 Phase. It may be the wiring or type of to the motors that could also be an issue. The "salts" as you describe are not a good sign. What is the environment this is located in? I have only seen this type of thing in a salt water fish farm that was so humid everything was covered in moisture. As for the breaker spitting sparks, this again is an issue. Is it being used as a switch? No motor(s) should be directly connected to a circuit breaker that is used as the switch to energize any motor. This is where a switch and contactor with an overload relay with the correct setting or heater elements comes into play. If this is a bit over your ability to handle, it is best to contact a qualified electrician to take a look at the situation and find out what the deal is.

Let us know what the final answer was.

Need I say anything again? The wise have spoken!

Reading thru my colleagues views..I agree. I also add one - when you contact an electrician, and they check your equipment etc, I'd suggest a 'soft start' for the motors..

Can we know the type of voltage source?. 3 phase or single phase, what type of motor, connect one motor at a time and test for short circuit in the motor coil, also test for earth leakage, check motor cables one after the other, check circuit breaker, if possible replace with a more sensitive type. Feed me back after doing all this.

This are the motor ratings: 230volts 25 amperes three phase induction type motor. There are contactors and OL rlys. The circuit breaker is intalled in a pannel board of the electrical room.

that still doesn't alter the collective view, this really doesn't sound like your specialty. let me repeat what others have expressed.......call in a professional with strong electrical experience.

Thank you Mr. Fredski, Your advise is good. I know how to replace the breaker. I know how to do wiring but I just want an additional info to examine my decision to replace the breaker.

Go back and re-read your original post, carefully.

If you really think anyone here, besides you, thinks you are qualified to analyze and repair an electrical circuit, you are even more delusional than I first thought you were.

<unsubscribes>

Heres some additional information for you. Changing the breaker does not solve the problem! It will cover it for a moment, maybe! There is at least one existing problem of not multitudes of problems that have led up to the point of causing the breaker to start sparking and is the reason why people here are highly recommending call a professional electrician. Changing just the breaker could release the Magic Gennie out of the bottle!

Please do not operate the motors before getting breaker repaired otherwise it may cause an electrical fire which may damage the complete substation. Call a qualified electrician and cable jointer to sort out the defect . It appears that your cable termination may need a rejointing and also may need complete check up of the breaker.Avoid doing experiments with such faults it may result in dangerous fire and accident.

What you do need to do is call an electrical person, or get the same one back that put two motors on one CB. Second thoughts.. don't call him back!!

Anyone who knows what they are doing would not have done this, please tell me it wasn't you!

A quick guide for you to follow, and this is by no means the solution to your problems, one motor = one CB. Call a certified electrical company, not a mate who thinks he knows something about electricity.

The damage has been done to the CB's so they do need to be changed ASAP... if not then your next call will be to the local Fire Department.

Finally... all the replies are good advice..... read well and understand them!

ps: to which address/church do we send flowers?

You might need two starter panels also that consist of contactors 20 - 30Amps overload relays, phase failure relays, voltage monitor relays and circuit breakers to start the motors. Do not connect directly to the circuit breaker.

co0054, first, welcome to CR4

you are 100% right, motor starter with disconnects in the best solution.

thank you!

and the same question to you.. how do you know he hasn't got two DOL starters?

Thanks pal.

You are welcome.... and welcome to the mad house!! Oh sorry CR4!

WE can get a little cranky sometimes, as you will find out, intolerant a lot, and some can get quite rude....

However it's a fun place....

Hi Roelexile,

Welcome to CR4. You have received good advice. I will add that the blackened wire will probably need replacing too. What guage is it? You need to realize that 25A motors draw more current when they are starting. A breaker should never spark. Does it trip? Is it the main breaker in the panel? If the sparks get out of the panel, your building could burn down. Same thing if the wires are too small or if you have aluminum wires with breakers made for copper. Shut everything off until a qualified electrician looks it over.

-S

Roelexile-

Are you a betting man? If not you should study some odds, especially these-

In reference to your posting dated 12-6-13, you originally made one question.

Within the past 46 hours you have received the following answers:

Total = 24;

18 ea - No, don't even attempt to repair this, it takes a professional to do this, to the other extreme of your going to kill yourself!

4 ea - Yes, go ahead and do it. (Who even knows their electrical knowledge or skills?)

2 ea - Posts from yourself, either thanking someone or stating you have some electrical skills. These skills you state to have are far from those required for this problem.

Analyzing these statistics you can come to the conclusion that the odds of you failing are 18 out of 22. These mean that according to the 22 people who answered your question, besides yourself, 18 think the range of results is going to be you can't fix it to your going to die trying to do it and 4 think you might be able to do it.

Eighteen people have given you their answers, all good. The first ten answers were "Don't do it!" You asked a question, we all gave you the same answer------ "You can't diagnose the problem, you can't fix the problem and you likely will kill yourself trying. You are about to commit suicide if you even try". We are here to help you, not antagonize or berate you. Please listen to us.

Good Luck, Old Salt

Already, lots of good advice here that you should be reading and understanding better.....

A 25 amp AC motor generally takes, provided no form of reduced current starter is used, between 5 and 8 times the running current at start up. This usually the "blocked rotor" current which may, or may not be not be noted on the motor spec..

Some starters start a motor up on reduced voltage to reduce the starting current, but the motor takes longer to run up, also depending upon mechanical load of the motor....

I generally use 6 x as a starting current value (could be right, less or even more!), so expect your motors, each one of them, to take around 150 amps at start up. Your electrician would probably, if he knows his job, plan for something like this, which suggests that no proper electrician was either consulted or used......

If you start both motors together, the instant current would/could be around double that.....no small wonder that the breaker sparks with either one or both motors!!!!!

There are breakers designed to accept the starting current for a short time, but to drop off if say double running current is seen for any reason. These values can be adjusted one way or another at purchase/install time.....I am sadly, out of touch with up to date modern versions....but there are plenty of good Guys here that are fully up to date as we have already seen.

Also, do not forget that "Good looks fade, but dumb is forever!" Unless of course, you blow yourself up somewhere before "forever".....

Like almost all other replies, yes you need to change the breaker, after all, they do not last forever and will "wear out" over time, depending on how many cycles they are put through. Might want to get an electrician to check out the rest of the circuits elements as well, see if there are possible weaknesses in the insulation of the wiring which may cause excessive draw.

The root cause of the problem is that there is no-one at the facility who knows anything about electricity.

The solution is to hire someone locally who is qualified to help.

what makes you say that?