A derelict X-ray factory in Smethwick, in the West Midlands has been equipped with electrical distribution equipment, including switch-disconnector-fuse units and three-phase distribution boards with residual current protection, for a local arts initiativ
The equipment has been supplied by Eaton MEM Circuit Protection and Control, based just six miles away in Reddings Lane, Birmingham.
‘Radioactive’ is an initiative of The Public (a community-based organisation in West Bromwich) in partnership with The Sozo Collective (a group of artists who use unconventional exhibition spaces). They have transformed the old X-Ray factory, in Foundry Lane, Smethwick into a gallery for a public exhibition between September 27 and October 11.
Technical Services Manager, Dave Checkley, who was responsible for renewing the electrical installations in the factory, approached Eaton MEM Circuit Protection and Control to see if they could supply switchgear and distribution boards for the project. "I was familiar with Eaton MEM products, they are reliable, easy to install and will take anything you throw at them" he comments.
A flexible distribution system:
Dave designed a flexible distribution system based on two Memshield 2 12-way TPN distribution boards. These are mounted on removable base boards so that they can be re-used on another site once the X-ray factory is vacated. Outgoing circuits are connected to the distribution boards via industrial sockets mounted alongside on the base boards. User safety is enhanced by the use of 100A TPSN residual current circuit-breaker incomers with a 100mA tripping current. A number of 32A and 63A RCBOs with a 30mA tripping current give added protection of selected circuits.
The flexible distribution is extended to the individual lighting points where the Litelink plug-in lighting system, also from Eaton MEM, has been used. This allows luminaires to be connected and disconnected quickly and easily.
A number of Eaton MEM Exel 2 switch-disconnector-fuse units have been installed for isolation and protection of individual loads such as kitchen power supplies.
"We thought this was an unusual but worthwhile local initiative so we decided to supply all the equipment they required" says Richard Hunt, Publicity Manager for Eaton MEM Circuit Protection and Control.
Old switchgear used in exhibits!
Interestingly, much of the original switchgear in the factory had been manufactured by MEM or its sister-company Bill Switchgear. This was removed, but some old ‘ironclad’ switch-disconnector-fuse units have found their way into one of the exhibits! Some of the conduit and piping ripped out of the building, now painted in bright colours, has been used in another exhibit.
About the Sozo Collective:
The Sozo Collective believes in transforming houses and factories, rather than sterile spaces, into galleries where artists can harness the environment in which people have lived and worked to create new works. In 2001 the Collective transformed a Victorian terraced house in Handsworth and in 2002 it transformed a terrace of five Victorian houses, scheduled for demolition, for the open-access Intervention show.
Radioactive is funded by the Arts Council England and Advantage West Midlands. It is part of The Public's Social Inclusion to the Creative Economy project, supporting arts and cultural industry in the region. Sabrina House, where the event is being staged, was built in the early 1900s in the Galton Valley. It was occupied by Commercial X-Rays Ltd for 50 years until 1990.
Eaton MEM itself has a long association with the area, having been founded in 1908 as the Midland Electric Manufacturing Co Ltd. in a small workshop in Conybere Street, Birmingham. Earlier this year the company was acquired from the Delta Electrical Group by Eaton Corporation of America.
Contact: Richard Hunt
Eaton MEM Circuit Protection and Control
Eaton Electric Ltd.,)
Reddings Lane, Birmingham B11 3EZ
Tel: 0121 685 2100
Fax: 0121 706 2012
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.memonline.com