Mr. Schofield Goes to Washington!

UPDATE - 12/2/2011 .. OK we seem to get photos faster from Orion's Belt than the Beltway but down at the bottom are some more photos of Mr. Schofield meeting with some Congressmen.  The smiles are probably the result of all the "fuse jokes". 

What a week.  I spent the first part of the week in Washington DC at the 2011 Congressional Remanufacturing Reception sponsored by MERA (Motor Equipment Remanufacturers Association) & the Remanufacturing Industries Council.  

The focus of the event was to bring together many different "remanufacturing industry segments" so that we could pool our resources to communicate to Congress the many benefits of "remanufacturing".  I think 13 different industries were represented at this event.  I was there as a "circuit breaker (electrical) remanufacturer" but also as a representative for the Professional Electrical Apparatus Recyclers League. 

In addition to the skilled American jobs that remanufacturing & reconditioning creates, the environmental benefits of resource conservation and landfill management are too significant to ignore.  And if you do the "total cost of ownership calculations" on top of these things, there is nothing but positive benefits for society from the promotion and consumption of re-certified goods.  But presently the government (specifically GSA) precludes the purchase of any reconditioned or remanufactured goods.  And that is what we aim to change. 

As part of my time "on the Hill", I got to meet with two members of Congress, Walter Jones of NC and Dennis Ross of FL and staff members from all the Texas legislators (photos of the Congressman as soon as they are released by whoever it is that releases them).  We have offices in both of their districts that "remanufacturer"  and they were excited to learn about what we did.  Both pledged their support to promote our businesses and told us to "keep them in the loop".  

Thanks to our hosts John Chalifoux and Anne McCulloch from MERA, thanks to Brad Williams of CBS for providing the equipment I used (yes I will bring it back working like how I got it) and also to Teresa Sprouse (my office wife) for making sure I was there on schedule.

And super thanks to my "guide/mentor/consultant" Niles Godes of Clark & Weinstock.   His counsel and assistance was great and I look forward to working with him in the future as we continue this dialogue.

Congressman Walter Jones of NC	Congressman Dennis Ross of Florida

And the Winner of the Mystery Part Contest Is?

The "correct" answer as specified in the simple rules of the content was:

"an undervoltage device for an FP-25 (Bonus:  115vAC)"..

(the judges would have also allowed FP-50 and the FM-25, FM-50 breakers as they too share this device)

Contest Winners include:  Matt B from Satin (had picture of same part on his desk, nice touch), Ken P of National Power Equipment, Matt H of Power Systems, Guido T of GE Energy, Gus M of High Voltage Electric, Sal M of Norsal (not fair), and "Best Answer" award goes to Mike S of GE Energy whose answer was "that is the UV off my breaker which needs to ship this week, please put it back on there".. definitely a winner (and almost a loser in a funny kind of way, sorry not funny Mike)!

Incorrect Winners are: Ron G from Square D, Greg Z of Volland, Edward N of Siemens, Micheal J of GEXPRO, Walt D of IETC, Keith B of Energy Systems, Dave R of CWESCO, Lynn M of Manitoba Hydro, Matt W of Koffler, Pat M of Advanced Testing, Tony B of American Electrical Testing, Robert K of Nat'L Switchgear, Floyce L of GTS, Ben B of Weyhauser, Tico G of Power Delivery Services, Guy X of AXD Services, Sean H of NGRID.

And the Losers are: Anyone who did not play.  As you should already be aware, everyone who participates with Circuit Breaker Sales is a winner.  All contest participants will be sent a Coupon for a free T Shirt or Coffee Mug from our CircuitBreakerStore.com.

Stay turned for the next round of the Mystery Part Contest, coming soon!

When Emergency Calls, we are there!

OK many of you thought that the weekend job we did a couple weeks back with all the General Electric Magneblast equipment was impressive (and it was).  But that was before we pulled this one off.  

Recent flooding in upstate New York caused a known service and repair facility to call us with their "hope".  Their local utility was calling on them to bring a "ancient" Allis Chalmers 5kV substation back on after it had gone under 1 foot of water.  I said "only 1 foot, no problem, how many breakers do you need?"  And we proceeded to work out the details.

The total turn around time from receipt of the first phone call till the truck left our facility was 34 hours. 

Here are some photos of the (16) MA-250 Vacuum Roll In Replacements we shipped to replace the customers air breakers that went underwater.   We had to ship (2) 2000 amp mains to replace his MA-250C-1 breakers that were wired to a 18-723-364-402 wiring scheme and (13) 1200 amp feeders to replace his 1200 amp MA's and a couple MSV-250 breakers that were wired to a 18-806-541-411 scheme.

The customer was impressed that we had this many modern replacement breakers in our inventories, that we had the wiring diagrams on file, and that we could have them out this quickly rewired and fully tested.  They were not fighting the cost of the equipment, they are fighting the cost of downtime. 

Not very many dealers could pull off a solution like this in the time frame this customer asked for.  We even "cell fit" each breaker to to be sure everything was just perfect.   And the customer even commented that "the price was fair".  No one says that. 

Another big salute to Tim Brewer and his emergency crew for making this happen.  There will be more information on them "blogged in the future".

 Here is a link to the Reference Gallery showing lots of the ways that we can perform. 

More Daily Arrivals!

The weather has finally broken 100 degrees here in Texas and that gets our inventory/warehouse folks really moving. 

Easily the the largest challenge we have is keeping track of the 1 million parts and breakers we have in stock. 

(Don't believe me on that one million number?  Come visit me and after we walk around a bit, the loser buys lunch.)

Here is load of equipment that came in last week.  It includes a 4000 amp double ended 480 volt substation.  This particular one is General Electric AKD-8.  This is very popular switchgear and has a significant "installed base" across America.

This piece has AKR-8D-100 4000 amp main breakers with an AKR-8D-75 tie breaker and 5 AKR-8D-50 1600 amp feeder breakers.  And "8" was the Epic Microversatrip and the first generation of "communications".  Notice the EPU display units on both mains.  Our techs can re-certify all this and ship switchgear like this that looks new (see future blog article, we just shipped a large piece of this).

And this photo is for all the breaker aficionados (do you really suppose there is such a thing?)  I can think of 3 members of that club besides me.  But I am sure it is like Skull & Bones and you cannot divulge your membership nor can I divulge those 3 members (Scott you are in).

This is the breaker elevating device for that AKD-8 switchgear above. If anyone has ever had the task of inserting or removing a circuit breaker "without" this device, they will really appreciate this photo. 

And never forget to use "remote racking equipment" when inserting or withdrawing any kind of  circuit breaker, motor control or other similar electrical device. 

Learn more about our Remote Solutions at CBS Arcsafe "Distance is Safety".

PS.  Answer to Mystery Part will be posted next Monday!

Pulling Rabbits out of a Switchgear Hat!

AM13.8-1000 3000 amp
Primary Disconnects "Bottles""

Here is what the guys came in and expedited out last weekend for a large utility in Pennsylvania that had a generation station "off-line".

Luckily between the legacy parts we keep on hand and our used equipment inventories, we were able to deliver the  perfect solution in the time requested.  This is the kind of stuff we do best.

Kudos again to Tim Brewer and all the guys he entangled for a job well done.  The main office said they will all get this Monday off. 

Our Service Crews will be following up right behind this equipment to see if there is a way we can help them avoid these emergencies and the added costs they incur.  We sell proactive solutions as well as emergency response.

Shutter slide assembly, secondary
disconnection and M-36 parts

In the first picture is a set of "primary disconnects cell side" for the General Electric Magneblast M-36 Switchgear with the AM13.8-1000 3000 amp air circuit breaker.  Then we have all the elevating assembly and a all the parts to supply a "replacement cubicle in the box" (some assembly required).

You can see more examples of these "switchgear rabbits" in some of our shared photo galleries:  

         We Ship Parts Every Day!
         References and Examples of Quality

Call today if we can help (800) 232-5809 or (940) 665-4444 or EMAIL of course!

PS.. Hang on, the results of the "Mystery Part Contest" will be posted soon..