Snapped this at work yesterday.....

[CallEdsFirst]

Paying attention to the cores now, I cant decide between 70 or 50! 10.9mm OD vs 12.9mm OD its close but 50mm has it! Only 3 steps away from my original guess!

Will we ever know? Will this misery never end?

 

[Pensdown]

When blokes start talking size, call in a female judge....

 

[RF Lighting]

Just for the sake of comparison this panel board is supplied with 120mm² tails. It too has a backwards MCCB

We love pictures

 

[Lectrician]

Ah - but they are singles, not triangular different kettle of guestimating there!

Not keen on the 3 phases being idented in three different ways! I would not have stripped the sheath, and taped or heat sleeved the inch or two upto the terminals.

Better still, as its trunk, singles.

 

[CallEdsFirst]

alright, alright I was wrong! Don't rub it in!

I love pictures too, somewhere I have pics of the main panelboard in the plant/switch room at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington! mmmmmm sexy!

Can't see no backwards MCCB mind, all of them have the green end of the label facing outwards.

Is it the incoming MCCB thats wrong? Can you tell me why you would use an MCCB Incomer? Is it so the board can have Type C/D response times dialled into the MCCBs but if everything starts at once the inrush current will be controlled by the incomer, thus still protecting the supply.

 

[securespark]

Yeah. Cable OD's have got smaller over the years.

I'm certain the insulation on imperial cables was a lot thicker.

 

[dannyboi2003]

Hi Guys,

Wow didn't expect this thread to get many replies. i've got no idea on the cable size but i'll find out if i can to put you all out of your misery .

Lectrician - I totally agree with you on the brutal sparks comment, i've not been very impressed by any of their work. They also do our data cabling and i've had to call them back loads of times to fix faulty or mis-wired points, i'm talking about CAT5 data points btw. I needed to connect up a pc and couldn't get a link, i eliminated a fault with the pc and then checked the point itself, i needed it working then and couldn't wait for them to come back so i checked the patch panel end and that was fine, when i removed the socket i found this...

Brings a whole new meaning to wireless networking . Anyway going back to the point, no i don't like the contractor but i have no control over it. I just give estates a list of whats required for the room and they appoint the appropriate contractor to carry out the work.

Assuming the armour from the board takes the most direct route to the switch room i would say the total run is about 60metres.

Calledsfirst - Yes the armour in the corner is the same one, it comes out of the board at the bottom and swings back up into the ceiling onto the cable tray and runs back to the switch room.

All the best
Dan

 

[CallEdsFirst]

I think thats what you do to avoid EMI on the pairs. you only terminate the shield, or was it all the wires, anyway, you only do it at one end to make sure the inducted interference drains away from the end device!

Still got those certificates of testing for every port then?

Didn't epect this many replies! This has been the best topic on here! One aimed at people that know a bit, rather than for people that don't! We all love a bit of good/bad workmanship to chew over.

And thanks for again clarifying that I am a muppet and my cable size estimate based on the correct cable in the corner was way off! Cheers!

 

[dannyboi2003]

Hi Calledsfirst,

don't be daft, we don't get things like certificates from the contractors our estates department use . Personally i think the contractor they use only does the data stuff because we ask them to and they probably don't have the test equipment to provide a certificate. I have spoken with them very carefully this time to ensure everything is done correctly such as how i want sockets and patch panels labelled to avoid any confusion. Last year i called them back as they hadn't labelled any of the sockets and they even messed that up and i did it myself in the end.

Sorry didn't know i was calling you a muppet, no offence intended honestly

All the best
Dan

 

[dannyboi2003]

For anyone interested this is the G block cabinet which also feeds several other surrounding buildings via the fiber links at the bottom. This was taken last year and is tidy compared to how it looks now. Yes its a mess and needs to be tidied but as its the main cabinet for that side of the road(the campus is situated either side of a road) it simply cannot be powered off at any time hence the UPS you see next to it.

All the best
Dan

 

[Lectrician]

One word - cable management bars! To many patch panels bunched together with no management bars in between!

Booted patch leads are also more suited to that situation.

 

[FullPint]

It's all too common... this looks after 3 of the 6 floors where I work.

 

[TicklyT]

For anyone interested this is the G block cabinet which also feeds several other surrounding buildings via the fiber links at the bottom. This was taken last year and is tidy compared to how it looks now. Yes its a mess and needs to be tidied but as its the main cabinet for that side of the road(the campus is situated either side of a road) it simply cannot be powered off at any time hence the UPS you see next to it.

All the best
Dan

Rant/
Why do people design installations with 19" racks/cabinets wedged into corners of rooms like that? If it's just a wiring closet, OK, but you are not really utilising the depth of the cabinet.
If it's an equipment cabinet (as it appears to be) then does anybody fancy trying to change , say, the upper of the two Cisco switches in there? If there is a requirement for a second cabinet, I bet it will end up where the UPS is, further limiting access to the first cabinet.
Much better IMO to put the side of the cab. against the wall, so there's access front and back so you can utilise the full capacity of the cabinet (thermal loading permitting), and less upheaval to install a second cabinet if (when) it's required.
When there is access to the back of a cabinet, then it's often knee deep in patch leads, mains leads, UPSs old modems and other junk, so there's no way you can even open the cabinet door!
/Rant over.

 

[Chri5]

Rules of cabinets used for Cat 5 voice and active data patching:-

1. Have 800mm wide cabinets with vertical holes / letter boxes for vertical cable management

2. Have cable management bars between each patch panel and each active hub / switch

3. Have a full array of patch leads in all sizes from 0.5m to 3.0m

4. Colour code patch leads for voice, standard data, uplinks and VIP circuits

5. Have floor sockets / passive ports in middle area

6. Have voice equipment feed panels at base

7. Have hubs and switches near top to allow heat to hit the cabinet fans at top asap

Simple rules, at point of installation make life so much easier.

On bayed up larger installation with 3+ 46u cabinets have the acrive in the middle and the distribution / floor cables either side to keep density issues under control.

 

[dannyboi2003]

Hi Chri5,

Thats exactly how its done in D block (our newest building), well with a few exceptions with regards to whats positioned where . G block is just a victim of poor design and too many contractors with little or no direction as to what goes where. D block was in a similar mess to G block when i started as everything had been connected up in a short space of time, so i spent a week tidying up each cabinet and colour coding them. Pictured below is the main cabinet for D block which has been colour coded as red for analogue & ip phones, blue for data, grey for server links.

All the best
Dan