A food manufacturer fitted out a new facility at Pakenham. Mobile Automation delivered the electrical infrastructure — distribution, machine supplies and process controls — to the construction program.
Stainless droppers instead of surface runs
The process rooms are built from fridge panel, so cabling was kept off the internal surfaces.
- Tray and basket tray carried above the panel roof and off the H beams
- Allthread, beam clamps and unistrut used for support, with every ceiling penetration drilled and sealed
- Outlets and data points hung on stainless wire droppers, heat shrunk over the flex and jointed at beam level
- Stainless brackets and food-grade ties throughout
Mains proven before the boards went up
Pre-run mains were tested for polarity before each board was mounted.
- 400 mm² and parallel 240 mm² aluminium conductors dressed in
- Aluminium-to-copper joints crimped, lugged and heat shrunk
- New busbars and a main switch tied to the existing bars
- Boards labelled, neutral tails ferruled, legends and schedules written
- Each board commissioned circuit by circuit
Power, data and fibre on separate paths
Power circuits, category 6 data and optical fibre ran on their own trays and droppers.
- Data velcroed rather than tied so runs can move when points change
- A separate enclosure built up for the fibre unit — mounting plate, ducting and DIN rail
- Power and control wiring run into the fibre enclosure
- Every data run terminated, tested and the results documented
The results
- Machine supplies dropped into control cabinets on unistrut and jack chain
- Every drive configured on site, parameters entered and direction of rotation proven
- A pump drive pulling 16 to 18 amps on a 10 amp single-phase supply measured, traced to a failed contactor and repaired
- Contactor and cabling replaced, maximum frequency held at 40 hertz to bring current back to 10 amps
- Full 50 hertz restored once the socket was upgraded to 20 amps