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HVAC Electrical Bard Unit

Dec 31 2013

Happy New Year~! You are my fellow party people....

anyway, need some help with breakers on a single phase Bard furnace. The main breaker(s) block inside the unit has a bad breaker(one of two)  that wont come out of the assembly. It has a 60 Amp 2 pole sq D QO breaker bolt in with a tandum 30 Amp Same. The job is commercial 1 1/4 hours away one way. I wanted to get the entire assembly from Bard but it is 6 weeks out.

There are input lugs for L1 + L2 on the right fed from a 90 Amp breaker inside, with  the 2 breakers on the "block" to the left of the lugs.

I proposed putting a 100 Amp weather proof box with 2 breakers to the side then running everything back into the Bard unit which gets expensive + was denied.

Surely some one has something that will hold the 2 breakers that I can mount inside the existing equipment main control cabinet to feed this 15 KW furnace.

I have thought about a fuse block like you see on a fan coil but have no new or used fan coils in stock. (Maybe could pursue that Thursday??

Hope you are having a good time tonight. My wife went to bed at 10:30, so think I will join her.

Later

Bob Borders

Bob's Htg West Point IA 52656 319-795-0822

Comments

  • icesailor
    icesailor Member Posts: 7,265
    Miricles:

    Your resolution seems plausible to me and should work well. Sounds like R&D at Bard chose a cheap and not readily available breaker assembly that cost less ($10,00?) than a more readily available part. So, the purchasing agent for the company doesn't want to pay anything extra to get the heat going by making it easier to replace in the future. So, he wants you to perform miracles. Then, there is Bard that doesn't stock the breaker for the equipment they sell. I'm sure that the 60 amp breaker is the only one they have ever used on any of their equipment (Snark-O Meter turned on high) but to keep that bottom line up, they chose to not stock that critical part.

    So, the purchasing agent at the company with the cold building wants the problem solved immediately for the cheapest cost. But he isn't willing to wait 6 to 8 weeks for the part? Figures.

    I'd be using "The Google" to find outlets for Square D breakers. Square D didn't make two special breakers just for Bard. And you have to wait for 6 to 8 weeks for the production line to get back to when they will build another one of those breakers again. Or the parts made in China will be on the next container being shipped from China for assembly in the USA. Then, wait for it to be shipped through their distribution chain.

    I spent my entire working career working on an Island where EVERYTHING was shipped in. If one needed something like this, it had to be shipped in. Freight cost was never an issue. If it was, well they can wait. You're not the Miracle Man. When you are asked to take that role, you need to be paid for it.

    I promise you, doing The Google" will find you want you want SOMEWHERE. You just have to find it. Its there. Call Square D. They have Technical Support. They can tell you anything that you need to know and how to do it. That's why they are there. They might even tell you that the only fix is the one you already came up with. You won't know until you ask and find out.



    Good luck.

    Don't take no for an answer.
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,453
    fuses

    What ICE said is the best way out if you can get the parts. You could put fuses in but were the circuit breakers serving as the disconnect means? If so fuses will do no good without a disconnect. Possible that fused raintight nema 3r disconnects would be cheaper than a cb panel.



    I googled it. I think your going to have trouble finding a replacement. Could be an OEM thing.

    I would get on the phone to Square D
  • RJ_4
    RJ_4 Member Posts: 484
    breaker

    Try  San Francisco Switch gear      415-522-0762
    RJ
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
    Take a photo

     of the breakers showing the connections on both sides.  If they're Square-D and less than 100A, there's a pretty decent chance they are QOU's.  If so, they are easy to find on eBay, but pay attention to the mounting method.  If they're mounted to a DIN rail, the Series I (typically easiest to find) won't work.  If they're screwed in from behind you can use any generation.
  • Unknown
    edited February 2014
    Brand

    Try with new brand model of 208/240 3 Phase.