Hello all I am new to this site, I found it simply by chance.

My question is reguarding vacuum bottles... Does it compromise the intergrity of a vacuum bottle by unbolting it from the insulation housing that surrounds it? If so, howcome? If not is there anything to support this?

I am currently going through an ongoing discussion about this and I feel that by unbolting the bottle there is no intergrity lose so long as the bolt taken out is torqued back into place.

The vacuum bottles are constructed separately from the mechanism and are designed to be replaced. The manual should be pretty clear on the replacement procedure. They are all pretty similar in design and procedures for replacement. There are less than a half dozen manufacturers of the bottles themselves TOTAL in the world. Everyone else is simply buying them and building the equipment around the bottles. If anything, I'd give Toshiba in Houston a call since they are the recognized experts in vacuum interrupters and have done a lot of pioneering work on improving the designs.

Funny you would say that. I am currently working on a Toshiba HVK breaker. You don't feel there is anything wrong with unbolting line side and load sides of a vacuum bottle to replace or to clean the bottles?

I am coming under fire for believing that I am able to do this (I am a junior technician) by my Senior technicians. I don't think what I am being told to do is correct.

Is there possibly somebody on this forum who is a expert with vacuum bottles. I could really use some good people to lean on as I'm not well liked because I am wanting to change the fact that our shop has been run based on "how we've always done it" to"this is what the IB and the manufacturer says".

I don't like disturbing them except for replacement. For cleaning you can do that externally without removal. Current industry standards for annual cleaning/inspection (NFPA 70B, NETA MTS, and NEMA ICS) call for using a vacuum and clean, lint free cloths. If it's really stuck on you could use a damp cloth. Solvents are taboo in MOST cases but some manufacturers (e.g. Powercon for air switches) recommend it, and some distribution electricians swear by using things like Collinite to clean insulators. I have no problems even using solvents where the manufacturer approves it. I'm against solvents as a general rule because in my shop we have a lot of DC equipment and it wipes out commutator films.

Nothing wrong with taking them out as long as you follow the IB for the breaker, it does nto take much torque in the wrong direction to damage the seal. Question is why are you removing them?

We pull them out everytime we do a rebuild of a VCB but that is just to test the pressure.

Yea, I called Toshiba this morning, No help what so ever. I was pretty much told to **** off. When it comes to insulation we normally clean with denatured alcohol and a cloth, bake out the item, then spray it down with an insulator spray.

Not really sure what your question is here, are you just looking for documentation telling you it is OK to remove the bottle?