63A Three Phase to 3 x 32A Three Phase with Variable RCDs
The Brief…
We were recently approached by an international film production company to design and manufacture a distro to fulfil their needs. This client had a list of distro requirements, most of which we were able to fulfil with off the shelf distribution boards, but this isn’t something we had designed before. The request was for a 63A Three Phase input to feed to 32A Three Phase outputs. After a discussion about the options, the customer chose Variable RCDs. The third output was added to future proof the distro.
The Design…
Once the client was happy with the specification, our sales team put pen to paper and designed an idea of how the distribution board could look. This was then passed on to our CAD team to progress to a visual. We went for our Single Handle Style Polypropylene Enclosure as this is light weight and a compact design, great for storage and transport. We used 3 of 8 module windows, each housing a 4 pole 32A MCB with attached shunt and a Variable RCD. We presented the visual to the client who was really happy with the layout and size. The client sent us their approval and this was then progressed to the CAM stage. We like this distro so much, it will soon be added to our stock distros, so keep an eye out for it.
The Build…
Our design team take the individual components used to create the 3D visual and lay them out on a sheet ready to send to the CNC machine to cut. This is then peer reviewed which, along with the 3D visual CAD, helps to reduce the likelihood of any errors. Once the file is ready to go, the machine is loaded with a sheet of 9mm Polypropylene and we hit the go button.
Following a couple of hours of machine time, the parts are removed and cleaned up by our fabrication team. Our experienced welders can assemble a single handle Polypropylene temporary distribution board within a couple of hours. This is partly down to the design, but also skill and practise. Once the enclosure has been fully welded, it is cleaned up and passed on to the wiring team.
Our temporary distribution board wiring team use the customer’s order and the drawing sheet from the design team to show them how the 63A three phase to 3 x 32A three phase will look. This details the channel numbers, type of protection and outputs. As the final order was for 2 of these distribution boards, we had 2 Engineers working on them at the same time to expedite the order. As well as PCE Connectors and Broyce Control Variable RCDs we also included an earth lug to enable local grounding.
