Data centers · critical power
Data center breaker refurbishment for Masterpact and Emax
Incomers, bus-ties and generator breakers in European-designed distribution are IEC-frame units that rarely operate and must never fail when they do. We refurbish them in our UK workshop, prove them by injection test and return them with the evidence for your records. No board modification.
- RangesMasterpact NW/NT/MTZ · Emax · Emax 2
- Express1–2 day workshop turnaround
- EvidenceInjection-test certificate per unit
- Warranty24 months on overhauls
The problem
Breakers that sit closed for years, then have seconds to work
Data center breakers have the opposite problem to most switchgear. They carry heavy, steady load around the clock and are hardly ever operated. Then a utility failure, a generator test or a planned transfer asks them to open and close in a set sequence, with the interlocks and auxiliary contacts doing their part.
A mechanism that has stayed closed for years in a warm electrical room can respond slower than the design assumed. Grease stiffens. Contacts and terminations run warm under continuous load and harmonic current from UPS and IT power supplies. Trip settings drift or get changed, and a selectivity study that was right on day one may no longer describe what is in the board.
That is why proof matters more than appearance. A breaker that looks clean has not been tested. One that comes back with secondary injection results against its trip curve, contact resistance per pole and insulation resistance has been.
What we refurbish
The IEC frames in European-designed distribution
Some US facilities run distribution designed to European practice, with IEC-frame breakers at the top of the critical power chain. These are the ones we work on.
Masterpact NW & NT
Incomers, bus-ties and large feeders, fixed and drawout, IEC and UL versions. MTZ too.
Masterpact NW & NT
Emax 2
E1.2 to E6.2, tested with ABB's own Ekip test kit.
Emax 2
Emax E1–E6
First-generation Emax in older halls, including UL-listed "-A" versions.
Emax E1–E6Without a board modification
Keep the breaker the board was designed around
When an IEC breaker fails or ages out, the manufacturer's route is often a new-generation unit. That can mean a different depth, a different secondary connector and a different trip unit. In a live facility it turns into busbar work, control rewiring, a revised coordination study and recommissioning, all inside windows you have to negotiate with the people in the halls.
A refurbishment avoids that. The breaker is stripped, its wear measured against OEM limits, the mechanism rebuilt and re-lubricated, worn parts replaced, and the protection proven by secondary injection. It goes back into its own cradle with its own wiring and the same settings.
- As-found settings recorded; nothing changed without your engineer's instruction
- Every enabled protection element tested against the published curve
- Contact resistance at 10 A and insulation resistance at 500 V, pole by pole
- Before and after photos and a parts list for your audit file
Maintenance windows
Planned around your windows
The window is fixed. The work has to fit it.
Exchange unit into the cell
Where we hold a tested unit of the same frame and rating, it can go into the cell during the window and your original comes to us for rebuild. We hold many tested units in the UK*, and they ship by air the day you need them if the model is in stock.
Exchange unitsExpress
When the breaker itself has to come back, Express gives a 1–2 day workshop turnaround. With 3 days' air freight each way, that is about 7–8 working days door to door plus customs clearance.
How it worksStandard service
For planned refurbishment of spares or a rotating program, 2–5 working days in the workshop depending on severity. About 8–11 working days door to door plus clearance.
Shipping & customsMany breakers
If a site has too many units to fly economically, our engineers can travel to the US and complete the repairs on site.
On-site in the US*Subject to model and rating.
Paperwork
Documented for your auditors
Every unit leaves with an injection-test certificate recording the test kit, the settings and the results, with the tolerance band printed beside each one. Before and after photos and a parts list come with it. Documents are in English, in imperial or metric units, and in your own QA format if you send it.
Freight and customs are handled our end. You choose DAP, where your broker clears the unit, or DDP, where we quote a delivered price. We prepare the commercial invoice and the repair-and-return paperwork. Quotes and invoices are in GBP or USD.
Who we work with
Operators, facilities teams and contractors
Operators and owners need a breaker record they can show their customers. Critical facilities managers need a repair route that fits the maintenance plan. Electrical contractors need a specialist for the IEC frames, with certificates their client's engineer will accept.
The warranty is 24 months on full overhauls and refurbishments and 12 months on repairs. Warranty terms.
FAQ
Data center questions
Can you refurbish a breaker without a switchboard modification?
Yes. That is the point of refurbishing rather than replacing. The breaker goes back into its own cradle with its own secondary wiring and the same trip unit settings, so the board, the busbars and the controls are untouched.
Do you change our trip settings?
No. We record the as-found settings and test at them. If something looks wrong against your selectivity study, we flag it, but we don't change settings without your engineer's instruction.
How do we keep the outage short?
Use an exchange unit if we hold the model, so a tested breaker goes into the cell during the window. Otherwise, Express gives a 1–2 day workshop turnaround, about 7–8 working days door to door plus customs clearance.
Our halls use an obsolete breaker range. What are the options?
Obsolete means the manufacturer has stopped making it, not that it can't be repaired. Masterpact M and first-generation Emax are rebuilt in the original frame. See Masterpact M and Emax E1–E6.
Can you repair UL-listed versions?
Yes. Our sample certificate is for a UL-listed Emax E3N-A. We repair the breaker and test it; we don't re-certify UL listings. IEC vs UL breakers explains the difference.
Send us the nameplate
A photo of the nameplate and the fault is enough for a first answer. We reply the same working day with a recommendation and a price for diagnosis and freight.