Electrical Connections and Components of a Dust Collector Overheat and Fail

Location: Cobble Hill, BC
Regulated industry sector: Electrical – Low voltage electrical system (30V - 750V)
This report has been updated: Versions of this report published prior to November 2, 2023 are obsolete and should be replaced with this report.

Incident Overview

A dust collector was damaged at a new wood manufacturing plant when the equipment was supplied with voltage that was too low, causing extra current to be drawn, overheating its wiring and internal components. During operation, the dust collector was tripping the circuit breaker and it was later discovered that the internal wiring and components of the dust collector had melted. The branch circuit conductors had also melted.