Improved Safety and Operating Simplicity for Medium-Voltage Switchgear.

Elbow-connected- or “dead front”-switchgear has grown in popularity in recent years. One reason for this is that insulated “elbow” terminations help to protect operating personnel from energized conductors. This adds a desirable safety margin to medium-voltage switchgear.

However, with conventional elbow-connected gear, the cables must be disconnected, tested for voltage, and grounded before work can be performed on downstream cable or equipment. These cable-handling procedures can be very awkward and time-consuming. They require special equipment and specially trained operating personnel. And after a cable is removed from its bushing, the operator is no longer fully insulated from medium voltage. This has long been a sore spot for operations departments, but was “something they had to live with” . . . until now.

S&C Vista® Underground Distribution Switchgear and System VI™ Switchgear represent a big step towards the ultimate in operating simplicity and safety. They actually eliminate the need to handle medium-voltage cables by incorporating all of the functionality of cable handling into the gear itself:

Clearly visible open gap and ground positions on all switches and fault interrupters for internal isolation and grounding of cables.
Especially large viewing windows for positive confirmation of closed, open, and grounded positions.
Operating controls isolated from medium-voltage cables.
Optional built-in voltage indication and low-voltage phasing on operating side of the gear.
Ground positions rated for 10 fault-closing operations. Accidental grounding of a live cable is not a potentially dangerous situation, as it can be when physically handling live cables and elbows.

Click here to view a slide show that demonstrates how cables and equipment can be isolated and grounded quickly and easily, with no exposure to the medium voltage cables.