Lengthen your existing cables or new cables for new control cabinets mounted to GE regulators.
If you are replacing an older GE regulator control in order to take advantage of the enhanced metering and communication capabilities of the latest generation of controls, you should also consider replacing the control cabinet. Aged cabinets have aged weather seals which will compromise the operation and shorten the life of your new investment. In addition, over the years, many control cabinets have had additional penetrations made for connection to SCADA, external demand metering, load reduction boxes, etc which will not be used with the new control thus leaving access for pests.
When replacing controls on a General Electric ML-32 or VR-1 regulator, you should also consider replacement of the control cable itself:
- The original cables are not shielded. Newer controls need shielded cable to avoid EMC issues (RF interference caused by control or external RF adversely influencing control operation).
- Older cables will fail soon if they exhibit any chipping, flaking or cracking of the outer jacket.
- Many GE controls have “cable stretch” right at the cord grip at the top of the cabinet. This is caused by personnel carrying the control by the cable when replacing in the past, or perhaps letting the control dangle by the cable as the replacement did not have enough cable to reach. This stretch actually causes thinning of the conductors’ insulation eventually causing failure.
- This is your opportunity to bring pole mounted regulators’ controls down to eye level.
Shewmaker Electronics can manufacture new cables to match your new Cooper, Siemens, or ICMI cabinets to your GE regulators. W manufacture to any length you specify.
Logistics permitting, we can also mate your new controls to the new cables, set up your initial programming and test (with your supplied regulator nameplate and setpoint data). This will minimize field time needing to be spent by your linemen or station mechanics when changing out controls.
Which Cable?
There are two distinct cable/connector systems used in the GE ML-32/VR-1 series, and at first glance they look alike…BUT they are NOT interchangeable.
The ML-32 and early VR-1 were designed around a 15 pin cinch connector along with a plastic short/unshort pin for the CT circuit. These were mounted in a housing that connected to the bottom of the position indicator. When you loosened the screws to remove cable end housing, you pulled straight down which unplugged the housing and pulled the pin from the receptacle, causing a self closing phone jack in the position indicator to close and short the CT. This system is generally in use from late 60’s ML-32 through VR-1’s utilizing controls up to and including the SM-2A***
VR-1’s utilizing the SM-3 and the GE-2011 controls have means of shorting the CT in the control cabinet.*** The housing mating to the position indicator is just being used as a weather shield, covering two nylon pin & socket style connectors. REMOVING THESE CONNECTIONS ON AN ENERGIZED REGULATOR WILL OPEN THE CT AND CAUSE DAMAGE AND/OR INJURY!
Although it is possible to remove the control cabinet on earlier regulators while energized, it is always safer practice to run the regulators to neutral and bypass/de-energize them before changing cabinets. (The black shorting pins are very brittle after a time… they break upon removal and you end up with an open CT circuit).
***NOTE: These descriptions may NOT always hold true! If a position indicator has been changed, you may have an older regulator with the newer CT shorting provisions. Conversely, a newer control such as a GE-2011 may have been mounted in an older cabinet which uses the CT pin system.
The best method of identifying which cable you have/need is to examine the cable plug into the position indicator. Loosen the retaining screws, apply a slight twist to break the oxidation seal on the weather gasket, and see if the housing falls away on its own.
If the housing is still pretty much unmovable without further effort, it is probably the older method with 15 pin cinch connector and plastic pin
For more information, please call 1-800-330-5409 or email us at info@ShewmakerElectronics.com