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Reliable electrical connections for outdoor generator
Reliable switches; the best are industrial magnetic reed switched by Rockwell or Cutler Hammer. These actually have the contacts sealed in a glass tube and use a moving magnet to close or open the contacts. Not cheap but very reliable in dust, dirt and corrosive environments, bonus is they are XP rated. They are used on industrial bailers that operate in very dirty environments. Same applies if you need control relays, reed relays can’t be beat. As far as those little ¼” quick slide connectors, the stainless steel crimp on ones are the best on the market, but put a little Nolox anti-corrosion type grease on the copper wire before you insert and crimp it on. Slip a 2” piece of heat shrink on the wire before crimping down the lug and then slide it down and shrink it over the lug and wire, not so much for the seal, but as a vibration isolator to help keep the wire from breaking off at the lug. The stainless terminals are used to make connections to heating elements and controllers, so they might be available at a local appliance repair parts store. Also put a small amount of Nolox on the connections before pushing on the quick slide connector. If you solder, use a good 60/40 rosin core solder and a low watt pencil. Also make sure there is a weep hole at the bottom of the enclosure, water will get in and needs an opening to get out. Hope this advice isn’t too over the top, the better the repair the longer it will last.
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Reliable electrical connections for outdoor generator
Your idea of a heater in good one. Up here in the frozen tundra we have outdoor control cabinets and transformers with heaters built in to keep things a little warm, but they are really there to prevent moisture build up by stabilizing the interior temperature. The good heaters have a thermostat and a humidity sensor to control the heater. This type heater is available from Hoffman engineering a cabinet manufacture. Be careful what you might choose to clean the switches. The LPS products are good and available from Grainger’s. I did a follow up call on a phone system once where someone thought that the spray cleaner they used to clean their shotgun would really clean out the dirt in the switches, but it melted the plastic just like it does the residue from a shot cup. I hate to step in it as I don’t know too much about your system, I’m new to this site and don’t know what the proper etiquette is, so if I’m taking the wrong approach let me know. It seems like your generator system has both local and remote controls. The more you have the more that can go wrong. Would it be possible to construct one good control panel that serves both remote and local locations? A local panel that plugs into a good multi pin connector locally, an extension cable with the same connectors would run to your remote indoor site where the panel would normally be. When you need to take the panel out to the generator and unplug the extension cable and plug in the panel there. This type system eliminates all of the local/remote toggles and puts the panel indoors most of the time. Hope this gives you some ideas.
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