Craftsmanship and Why Quality Pays

When Buying Electrical Control Panels

All electrical control panels are not the same. The difference is in engineering and craftsmanship.

Wastech Controls designs and fabricates electrical control panels that will save your customer money in installation and maintenance costs.

How Not to Build a Control Panel

As an example of what not to do, the two panels above were built by an OEM of wastewater equipment that competes with Wastech. The panels are surprisingly sloppy, but this is not unusual for "spaghetti wiring." If the customer who purchased this equipment asked a technician to "fix" the panel so that a minor modification (like an additional relay) could be made, it would take hours. Notice the wiring mess, the lack of raceways, the non-existent wire labeling, and the wiring instructions that are hand-written with a magic marker on the inside of the enclosure. The use of cheap components (along with some brand components) suggests questionable reliability. As you might expect, the panels did not come with a wiring diagram.

How to Build a Control Panel the Right Way

By contrast, the panels above are typical of Wastech Control panels. Notice the careful banding of wires and the use of Panduit conduit for raceways. Notice that individual wires are labeled. Color coding is obvious for tracing. Power requirements are highlighted with a special label. This care eliminates mistakes and insures the panel is installed correctly. If a change is to be must be made, any technician can do it quickly. In addition, we follow the UL code in selecting components and designing the panel (whether the UL label appears or not).

A CAD wiring diagram is placed in every panel. Instructions are posted on the door to call Wastech if software changes are needed. Labels indicate the program and manufacturer. Conduit connects wires to the door to eliminate chaffing and future problems. Component are selected from recognizable manufacturers who can be relied upon for years of predictable service. Cheap components are never used in Wastech panels. This is quality that your customer will see. This is also why our panels cost a little more.

The installed cost of a quality control panel is always less than the cheaper alternative. Go for quality, it pays off in the long run!