Brutus 10 Clone Control Panel Help Please...

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rlhvegas

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Hello All,

I'm in the process of putting together a Brutus 10 clone. I'm working on the control panel and have an issue... I'm using Lonnie's plans order from BYO. I've included a picture of my progress so far... I'm using Lonnie's idea of having a Hot, Neutral and Ground bus as distribution points. In the pic I have a Main power chord coming in from the bottom left. A main power switch wired in. I think I have grounded everything properly... however every time I plug the power in it trips the breaker! I've checked over the wiring and to my limited knowledge I think I have wired it correctly... guess not! Please help! :drunk:

Link to my pic:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49428398@N06/?saved=1
 
Do you have all the components wired into the terminal blocks at this point, or is it still just like the picture? Looks like your ground is going from the terminal block into the main power switch, is that true? If so I think that's your problem - the switch for the main power should just be the hot wire coming out of the main power cord and then entering the hot bus.
 
The pic may be a little confusing, here's what I've got. Yes the pic shows what is hooked up at this point. I wanted to get the main power switch and terminal blocks ready for components to be plugged in. I have the main power chord coming in from the bottom, the black "hot" goes to the "power" terminal on the switch, the power chords neutral goes to the neutral terminal block, and the power chords ground goes to the ground terminal block. From the switch I have the "Acces" terminal going to the "hot" terminal block. with this configuration the switch seems to work fine. I have a test light hooked up to the hot and neutral terminal blocks, and when I flip the switch, the light goes on! However, the problem is with the ground terminal on the switch, whether I connect it to the ground terminal, or the ground screw directly it will pop my breaker when I flip the switch! From my understanding I must hook up the ground on the switch in order for the LED to come on... By the way I left out the fact that I have a ground wire leading from the ground terminal block to a ground screw in the project box.
 
If I don't use the ground post on the switch it works fine, however the led light on the tip of the switch does not illuminate... my understanding is the the ground post must be used on the switch if you want the led to illuminate... is this true?
 
How many terminals are on your switch? What model is it? I only have experience with switches for my panel that had two posts - one for each side of the hot wire as that's the only thing you're shutting off.

I would think if anything it would need hot and neutral to make the LED light up, not hot and ground...
 
just do what i did. it works great!!!!

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=14jn69l&s=5

crap man....the electrical was the hardest part for me. Mine looks like a war zone, but it works. my main power switch has 2 posts, one goes to the power cord, and the other goes to the hot bus. thus, flipping the switch cuts power. green wire from power cord goes directly to ground bus. remember, you only have to break the circuit on wire, not all wires. for me, i broke the hot wires where i had to.

my work is sloppy, but it hasnt had any problems yet
 
Thanks Lonnie for the compliment, you truly are an inspiration! Also thanks to all for the replies so far... I'm almost embarrased to admit this, but I think my problem lies in the switch I picked... It says 12vdc on it :eek:

A lighting engineer at my work says that the switch is the problem. He thinks I fused the terminals together inside the switch when I put power to it. :rockin:

Tomorrow I'm going to me local electrical store and buying the correct switches and trying again! I will post pics soon of the rest of my build.
 
Thanks Lonnie for the compliment, you truly are an inspiration! Also thanks to all for the replies so far... I'm almost embarrased to admit this, but I think my problem lies in the switch I picked... It says 12vdc on it :eek:

A lighting engineer at my work says that the switch is the problem. He thinks I fused the terminals together inside the switch when I put power to it. :rockin:

Tomorrow I'm going to me local electrical store and buying the correct switches and trying again! I will post pics soon of the rest of my build.

Ah... This could be it! It seems like your wiring looks ok... I have seen other led switches that require a ground, but I don't want to say without knowing the part number... Looks like you may have figured it out!
 
Well here's an update my friends... I have purchased the correctly rated toggles today and will be installing them tomorrow. I'll post an update soon. Thanks for all the input! :ban:
 
rlhvegas,

Quick question: You say that your breaker trips, is that a GFCI breaker? If that is true, there is an additional issue with the wiring. The green wire ground should never carry current to any device including indicator lights. The green wire is a safety only and if any current is diverted through it, the GFCI will trip.

Now that is not to say that the wiring is ok if it is not a GFCI breaker.
 
Shouldn't the negative be hooked up to that leg of the switch? (please wait for confirmation from a qualified electrician, I'm nowhere near that)
 
It was a GFCI breaker. An electrical engineer at my work said that by using the 12vdc rated switch, I may have fused the ground terminal and the power terminal together inside the switch... thus causing another power terminal. Again I'm summarizing his answer with my limited knowledge.
 
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