A few days prior to the 4th of July Independence Day holiday, 11-inches of rain fell in the Washington D.C. area, flooding the basement of the U.S. National Archives. The flooding had shorted out the electrical system that kept power flowing to the building’s dehumidification system, a key piece of the building’s rare document and artifact protection system.

A few days prior to the 4th of July Independence Day holiday, 11-inches of rain fell in the Washington D.C. area, flooding the basement of the U.S. National Archives. The thousands of rare documents – including the Declaration of Independence – that call the National Archives home were safe from the rising tide, but for how long? The flooding had shorted out the electrical system that kept power flowing to the building’s dehumidification system, a key piece of the building’s rare document and artifact protection system. Driven by fears of molding documents and historical catastrophes, curators called PEARL member and electrical testing specialist Potomac Testing Inc. (Bowie, MD) to test and repair the electrical system, which included locating high voltage fuses, and get the dehumidification system up and running. Potomac reached out to the PEARL network, calling Brian Corekin at Monster Fuses Inc. (Portland, OR), owner of the largest inventory of, surplus, new and used and reconditioned industrial fuses in the U.S. Although calls had been made to the manufactures of the required fuses, nobody was available at their warehouse to locate and pull orders because of the holiday.

The National Archives call came in the morning of Monday July 3rd. By that afternoon, technicians at Monster Fuses were pulling 44 replacement fuses from their inventory of 80,000, and began the process of testing the 5kv and 15kV surplus fuses according to guidelines found in PEARL’s 3100 series Inspect & Test (I&T) standards for industrial fuses.

“Because of the time crunch, we couldn’t do a full reconditioning of the fuses, which typically includes sandblasting the ferrule ends to remove tarnish and flaking silver-plate and applying a new silver layer when necessary,” explained Monster Fuse’s Corekin. “Unlike most electrical apparatus reconditioned under PEARL standards, fuses don’t have moving parts – at least, they’re not supposed to!”

Following the I&T process as a guideline, Corekin’s technicians buffed the ends of the fuses, and tested each using a 10-amp ductor resistance tester. “We performed cold resistance tests on each of the fuses using the ductor, which gives you readings down into the micro ohms. PEARL’s I&T standard requires you to test the device, compare it against OEM specifications, and document those test results. We keep copies of the test results here for every fuse, as well as print the test results on labels that we apply to the fuse itself so there’s no confusion about the fuse being ready for installation.”

As a certified site member of PEARL, Monster Fuses also can apply the PEARL I&T sticker to the fuse, which includes a serial number for each part so that customers and contractors can call the PEARL member company and verify test results.

A few hours after receiving the first call from Potomac, Corekin carried the fuses to Portland International Airport for the next plan to Washington, D.C. By Tuesday, the fuses were installed, and the Declaration of Independence was once again – high and dry.

“We’re just glad we could help,” concludes Corekin. “PEARL members fill a valuable niche in the electrical supply chain. Every industry is focusing on their core activities, and the electrical industry is no different. Why not leave the storage of electrical apparatus to the experts instead of keeping spares on company shelves that might not get used in 10 years. After storing items for that long in poor conditions and without proper testing, you never know if the device will work, work good enough, or blow up in your face.”

About PEARL:
Founded in 1997, the Professional Electrical Apparatus Recyclers League (PEARL) creates, collects, and disseminates information, policies, procedures, and standards to ensure the proper recycling and reuse of electrical power equipment. Its 70+ corporate members must meet strict technical, safety, and operational requirements.

Editorial Contact Winn Hardin Marketing Director Tel: 904-246-8958 winnhardin@pearl1.org

Association Manager Mark Stone Tel: 877-AT-PEARL Fax: 888-996-3296 pearl@pearl1.org