Replacing Bottles in GE Magneblast Switchgear

The General Electric Magneblast is one of those iconic circuit breakers that if you spend any time in or around switchgear, you will have reason to deal with them. Manufactured from the 1950's through the early 1970's, they are usually found in large manufacturing facilities, from automotive plants to steel mills to repurposed properties that once had high volume production runs of one kind or another. It is sometimes called a "vertical lift" breaker. It is characterized by a unit that rolls into an enclosure and then lifted vertically into place and then connected to the line and load side by means of a vertical lift mechanism.

With ratings from 2.4kV through 15kV, frame sizes of 600, 1200, 2000 and even 3000 amp and interrupting ratings from 50MVA to 1000MVA, these breakers cover almost every conceivable industrial, commercial and utility application. Documentation for most of these frames can be found on our website www.npeinc.com/resources  or by contacting NPE personnel with specific requests at info@npeinc.com, 800-647-0815 or by fax 216-898-2684, yes, we still have one!

We have found over time, the original "tar pitch" that was used to insulate the primary conductor in the center of the primary disconnect bottle has outlived its useful lifespan. It can crack and absorb moisture and loosen the connection inside and eventually lead to catastrophic failure. That's where NPE and our experience can help to increase the safe, useful lifespan of your switchgear with our repotting program.

Regardless of what your GE Magneblast breaker and switchgear needs are, you will find that NPE has "The right part, at the right price, right now!"

National Power Equipment, Inc. is your one stop shop for air and vacuum circuit breakers, switchgear, primary switches, motor starters and of course, parts!

As discussed in other articles on this site, care and maintenance of the primary disconnect (bottle) assembly in your GE Magne-Blast switchgear is a critical element that ensures proper functioning for years to come. Performing this critical maintenance can be tricky to do in a cost-effective manner if you are not intimately familiar with the equipment. Fortunately, we specialize in this area.

The Two Routes for GE Magne-Blast Maintenance

Remove and Rebuild

The first maintenance option is to remove the bottles from the Magne-Blast gear—either one breaker at a time or in mass—and then have them rebuilt in a proper fixture (to ensure proper alignment) using modern materials that ensure proper functioning for years, if not decades, to come. Performing maintenance in this manner can become time consuming from both a labor and an outage standpoint since each breaker will be taken out of service and will remain that way for at least a week or more depending on labor and outage schedules.

Swap Them Out

The second option is to purchase bottle assemblies that are already rebuilt and tested and have them swapped with existing equipment in one outage. The cost savings in downtime and mobilization costs for labor are obvious. However, you will need a supplier like NPE with both the experience and the inventory necessary to ensure that the replacement bottles you acquire match the existing ones, making them interchangeable without modifications in the field. GE has published very little comprehensive information on this subject. The attached diagram is often thought to be an all-inclusive guide, but our hands-on experience has shown that there are many more styles and factors that can affect interchangeability.

Getting the right information to your switchgear dealer is fairly simple, but it does require an outage. You will need to remove the inspection covers and get detailed, well-lit photos of the copper details at the top of both the line and the load side bottles, as well as photos of the bottom side by the shutter. Also, you will need to document the model number and the frame size of the breaker that will be installed into the cell. The feeder breakers are often the same configuration, but care will have to be taken with the main and ties breakers and document them separately.

Once the proper bottles have been identified, rebuilt, and swapped out, the existing bottles can be rebuilt and kept on hand for future spares or, if they are in rebuildable condition, they can be returned for credit as cores.

If it’s time to maintain or replace your Magne-Blast Switchgear primary disconnects, NPE can help. Learn more about how NPE’s bottle repotting program can be just what you need or just contact us today to talk to one of our experts.