[Col]

Interesting …. as a past Schneider rep I know that Schneider have always had fuses and fuseholders available, even in the old Telemecanique days. These were made by a third party however so margins were always under pressure and stock was typically non existent so there was little interest in selling them. Given the vast majority of applications are probably more suited to breakers anyway I can see why your local sales guy hasn't mentioned them before. We pretty much only used them when absolutely necessary or as a “do you want fries with that” sale.

Maybe something has changed and Schneider has bought a fuse company? I suggest that more likely, some product manager within Schneider has decided that he is not moving enough fuseswitches and fuses etc and has “wound up” the sales team ! 

Cheers Col

[Col]

Hi Adrien,

 Just read this post with interest and can make a couple of observations from both an engineering point of view and also a sales point of view. I currently work as an Electrical Engineer for a large water authority in Australia but in a previous life was in a senior sales role with Schneider.

Generally speaking, at least in Australia, panelbuilders can be divided into two types; those that are more interested in selling “labour” and those that are more interested in “jobs out the door” or volume. Those selling their labour (or perhaps technical expertise) are usually involved in more complex and custom deisigns and therefore are not usually comfortable with new concepts that may save labour time. On the other hand, those that are more interested in volume (more repetitive or modular designs) are always keen to embrace new technologies that can save them time or space etc. 

As mentioned previously in the blog, it looks like the TesysU from Schneider would be a very nice fit for you. I have done many of these types of jobs previously (in the food industry) with sometimes up to 200 starters in the panel using TesysU starters in conjunction with the parallel wiring option rather than comms. This is a cost effective and robust wiring solution when all you need is a few I/O per starter which appears to be your application from your photo. My jobs also used Schneider's Advantys STB remote I/O solution which makes it a very nice job that can be connected to any automation platform saving lots of space and cost in terms of rack based PLC I/O.

I also recommend the type of busbar systems already mentiioned. Schneider also sell this system and they have a specific plate available for the TesysU.

I can try and find some photos if your interested but I suggest you talk to your local Schneider rep.

I hope I don't sound like I still work for Schneider !!

Regards

Col 

[Author]

Posts