Re:Coat Hangers (Score 1)

In the mid 80's I was installing a rather large semiconductor burn-in/test system in an important customer site in Virginia. Management and engineering were all proudly standing there to watch me bring up the machine. The unit required 480VAc, Nitrogen feed, Water feed and drain. Facilities had to remove walls to get the system into the lab. I show up to bring up the machine on my first FE service call. I go through all the check lists, and flip the main switch to start bringing up the machine. Poof! The whole NEMA box fried. After the alarms were all shut off and the smoke cleared, and our heart rates were normal, I examined the NEMA box. Turns out the assemblers had installed the wrong sized terminal blocks for the large AC wiring. So the wiring guys, instead of rejecting the machinists work, just carved down the wiring to fit terminal blocks. Best I could figure is the terminal block couldn't crimp down tight enough on the shaved down wire, and in shipping, one of them slipped out. I ended up going to a local welding shop to buy 1/0 cables. Got the replacement correct contacters, terminal blocks etc P1'd out, and had to rebuild the whole NEMA box. High pressure for a 20 year old's first trip, but being young, I didn't care cause it wasn't my fault.