Unkown Piece of Electrical Equipment (pics) Please Help Identify.

Greetings all,

I am coming to this forum to enlist the help of electrical engineers! I myself am a mechanical engineer and my company needs help identifying this piece of electrical equipment..
I have attached the pictures below.. ANY help would be greatly appreciated..


http://imgur.com/a/J0B8H

My first thoughts was that it was some kind of loadbank, or maybe a transformer.

Thanks guys.

-Gunnar

Can you post some picture of the labels on some of the smaller components and the switches in the upper right corner?

Hi Chris,

I will request some more pictures today. The location of this is at another job site across the state. I have attached two other photos of the Upper LEFT hand corner. Hope this helps. Thank you!

-Gunnar

Hi Gunnar,
The open section looks like a cabinet for power distribution and control systems.
The lack of any external controls or displays suggests the system would be controlled from elsewhere.
The large busbars at the base would indicate hundreds of amps going through, its open bottom would be where the supply cables or busbars enter and/or leave.
The close-up you show appears to be fuses and possibly a contactor (high power relay).

Close-ups of the various other sections that can be seen would help us, particularly any lettering or labels.
Can you obtain pictures of the interior of the other sections, perhaps a look in the top openings ?
Do you have any history of the equipment or know where it came from ?

it appears in one picture, looking through the screen at the bottom rear of the unit that there is a motor mounted vertically. If that is the case, then I would think it to be a form of transformer that is uncommon now. In the old days when a change in frequency was required it was simpler to make a motor drive a generator to make that frequency change. Did this unit come from a sea port or airport? Many ships and aircraft use 400 hz power that is incompatible with shore power. The reason for doing this is that 400 cycle power can be run through much smaller wires. That can be a large consideration when weight is critical to the craft. I think the components in the front are contactors to make and break the circuits all at the same time or to ensure the motor was spinning before closing the contacts on the output. Many of the old timers called these Dynamos, referencing the fact that there was a moving component inside. The more accepted terminology was transformer which would be consistent with the data plate you showed us. If it is one of these, it is unfortunately obsolete but there should be a considerable amount of copper and possibly some silver contacts that would make it a ideal scrap project.