GEC VMX 13.8KV Operations and Maintenance Manual

[MV Wannabe]

thread238-360037
Hi,
Came across several GEC VMX 13.8 breakers in Saudi Arabia. Looking for the O&M manuals.
At least 6 breakers have been pulled out as most them do not close after charging.
If someone can help me out with this.
Also is it possible to send them back to the UK for remanufacturing.
Thanks

 

[RRaghunath]

GEC switchgear became part of AREVA T&D and later part of Schneider group I suppose.
Schneider may be able to respond / advise on retrofit if you approach them with the details.

 

[Hoxton123]

https://slaters-electricals.com/sto...it-breakers/gec-vmx-vacuum-circuit-breaker-2/

i do not know if schneider or any part of the old GEC still services VMX switchgear.

There are companies in the UK who refurbish 'legacy' switchgear, suggest you try the above

 

[MV Wannabe]

I contacted SPE Energy, they gave me a quote. Working with the end used to buy some spare breakers.
Trying to figure out general operation of the CT/VT bus trolley fixed atop the switchgear.
Any help with a general procedures would be great.
No local company is able to support with the present issue on the breakers where they don't close after charging the spring.

 

[Hoxton123]

I did a search for ‘VMX Switchgear manual, and couldn’t find a secure site which had one (many sites entice you to register and have a free trial, but you need to give them your credit card details... very dangerous!).

When I worked for a similar manufacturer at that time, manuals were not a single document. Because of the variations in the product (single busbar, double busbar etc) the design engineer would complete a ‘tick list’ of a selection of pre-printed sheets, contract drawings and schematics, and list any suppliers’ documents (protection relays, meters etc). this list would be kept in the design file and a copy sent to the manuals clerk who would assemble the required number of manuals, from the pre-printed sheets etc, put each document into a binder and write a despatch note and send it and the binders to the mail room who would get the documents wrapped and sent to the customer.

A copy of the despatch note would be sent to the contracts department who would then tick this off their contract list.

Very bureaucratic! But this explains why the original manual may not actually exist. There was never room for the space required to keep a copy of the manual for each switchboard. In my experience, instruction manuals never get near the machinery, and get left in offices, often on another continent.

When I ran a service department, we would always get two copies of each manual, as when our commissioning engineer went to site, the customer’s site engineer would plead for his manual as the contract ones never got to site!

Nowadays we can use Adobe or whatever to assemble a pdf document which can be easilty stored and transmitted.

Good luck but you may not be able to find a manual. Slaters are your best bet.

In my search, I did find a VMX leaflet as attached. Hope this helps.

A final thought is that GEC, then Areva, then Alst(h)om, then GE had a presence in India, and I think manufactured VMX under licence, they may be able to help, if you can find them.

 

[seanleed]

We've got one on site, i'll check in the panel and see if there's a manual inside it.

EDIT- there is no manual, but if you need one for a BVP-17, i've got that.

One thing to check when closing them is that the isolating mechanism (to the left and slightly back when looking face on) is on 'locked' and not 'free'. Otherwise it makes a clang, the springs discharge, but the isolator does not close. If this happens you have to rack the breaker back out and it is possible to force the mechanism over with judicious use of a large screwdriver. I've not done it, but i've seen it done by our HV contractor.

If a new switchroom isn't an option, there are companies such as PBIS who make new switchgear that retrofits into the existing space. These are magnetically latched VCBs. They are quite expensive though. I'm getting new SF6 Schneider Ringmasters installed for less than the cost of the replacement breakers.

 

[MV Wannabe]

Thanks. Much appreciated

 

[MV Wannabe]

@seanleed.
Thanks. The isolating pin is stuck in most of our GEC breakers that have been removed. They were not stored in a clean environment. I Will be lubricating them.
I have found some BVP-17 manuals earlier from this forum.

I am looking for additional information on operation of the CT/VT trolleys. I found two different designs throughout the property.

Some of the VMX breakers have the plastic shroud/body damaged or removed entirely.
Are they safe to operate as the isolator pins are exposed at the bottom?

 

[Hoxton123]

Just as a reminder, please use the correct lubricant when dealing with circuit breaker maintenance. See the link to UKs Health and Safety website

https://www.hse.gov.uk/safetybullet...tm_term=headline&utm_content=digest-29-sep-21

 

[seanleed]

"Some of the VMX breakers have the plastic shroud/body damaged or removed entirely.
Are they safe to operate as the isolator pins are exposed at the bottom?"

I wouldn't operate them like that, and looking at the flexible shields at the bottom of the insulator, they appear to be suffering from a bit of heat damage. The one VMX that we removed last week had worse damage than that, but also had corrosion on the contact petals and arcing down the side of the insulator. Our HV contractor says that compared to the old BVPs, the VMX is shit. There was no visible damage on any of the eight BVRP-17's that were removed.