3 phase help needed please.

[shed or dead]

Hi,

Hopefully an electrician, or someone with a similar fuse box will see this.

I'm about to wire in an outlet socket to my 3 phase fuse box which I have never before used, it just sat as it was when I moved in 10 years ago, but now I've got a 3ph welder.

Hopefully the pictures are clear enough, I'm wondering about the bar with the blade pairs mounted on. Looking at it, it looks as though the whole box would go live when the handle on the door is turned to engage the blades, unless the bar is not metal?

Any help appreciated?

Thanks

 

[Pete.]

The blades will be mounted on the bar over a non-conducting gasket probably. Test it with your meter.

 

[500e]

What has moved ?? switch bar looks skewed, right hand end appears to be out of place,
ISOLATE BEFORE FIDDLING lots of volts can lead to death
Bar is insulated from contacts

 

[shed or dead]

Thanks Pete and 500e, the bar is indeed out of place, the right end has popped out of its mount, but as this is how I found it I decided to leave it be until I knew more about the whole setup.

I hadn't thought of testing but I shall give that a go with a low voltage.

Thanks

 

[agrimog]

this is a std "old style" isolation fuse box, they either take cartridge fuses or fuse wire, depends on the type of plug in blocks that plug in(hope you have them, cos there like hens teeth), if you dont, get an electrician to fit a new isolation box with a red three phase socket to suit your application. the square bar that operates the blades is usually an insulative material, and no the box doesnt go live . there are still thousands of these boxes in use.

 

[awemawson]

The 'bar' is usually Paxolin or SRBP - insulators

 

[normspanners]

The 'bar' is usually Paxolin or SRBP - insulators

It is like a fibre resin type material.

 

[julieanncharters]

if thats all you got yer might as well look for another isolator as finding bits for that ain't worth the effort.
aint cheap new but i,m sure old feabay would find you summit suitable.
as has been said its not often you'll get away with a 415v shock so always proof test yer meter on summit else and double check before getting stuck in.

 

[ford34/2]

thoughts

I am NOT an Electrician so I hate offering advice,But is this not 3 phase and Neutral--Top left brass block, ???
if it is do remember NOT to connect an earth to it.
Its not too long back I changed all my Mk style old ceramic fuse based isolators. couldnt give the fuse holders away so they went in the wheelie bin.They were old fashioned fuse wire jobs.
As mentioned I would seriously be thinking new isolator or even a new little 3Phase DB board and breakers for protection.
Stan
PS I believe you could get plug in MCB to replace the original ceramic fuse holders.

 

[shed or dead]

Everyone,

Thank you all so much, I have fitted my outlet, and I'm alive!

I did indeed have the fuses, wire still intact. The 'bar' turned out to be a resin doused composite on closer inspection, so thanks to you guys who steered me there.

Now the welder is powered, there'll probably be a thread soon on what each setting does (Kempii RA230 Old).

Thanks again.

 

[Robotstar5]

Now the welder is powered, there'll probably be a thread soon on what each setting does (Kempii RA230 Old).

With an FU10 WFU?

 

[shed or dead]

Hi RobotStar,

It is exactly as pictured, with FU10 WFU?

I have the red rollers, 0.9 - 1.2 I believe, but they rolled 0.6 through fine, but bids nesting occurred on striking an arc. Could this be to do with the liner between torch and feed being too wide, or more likely because the wire had sat in a drawer for 5 years, and although I removed most of the rusted stuff, patches still remain?

Any help with settings is greatly appreciated as I feel like I'm learning to weld again, and get better results with my patched up Clarke 150TE, across a range of 0.9 - 4mm, all of which I regularly weld (mainly 0.9 - 1.2).

Thanks

 

[Robotstar5]

FU10 WFU = Wire Feed Unit (the box on top)

We got rid of one at work about 5 years ago, unfortunately all the spares were binned at the same time as we standardised with Murex sets.

I can't remember the feed roll colour coding but you should use rolls to match your wire size, the outfeed guide (tube) should be a couple of mm from the rolls to prevent "birdsnesting"

 

[shed or dead]

Hi, understood WFU but put ? in the wrong place as re-wrote the reply 3 times, computer keeps shutting itself off, thanks though.

The 0.6 feed roll is white but cheapest I've found so far is £44 for feed and idle rolls, seems expensive when I only paid £180 for the machine. I may just bite the bullet as I mainly work with thin sheet, and as I gather, the thinner the wire, the lower the current acheiveable? I can't help thinking though that a thicker wire would use more of the heat / current to melt itself, therefore less to transfer to the workpiece?

Many thanks

 

[Ed.]

I would have put a new box in, fitted with circuit breakers and a 3 phase RCD for safety, probably about $100-150 for the lot.