Tdworld 3196 Substation
Tdworld 3196 Substation
Tdworld 3196 Substation
Tdworld 3196 Substation
Tdworld 3196 Substation

Which Switch Goes to Which Motor?

Aug. 24, 2015
Here's a little puzzle to ruminate on during a coffee break. Maybe you'll win a gift card! Give it your best shot in the comment section below. Enter as many times as you want. A $50 gift card will go to the first right answer. We need your email to send the gift card so make sure you're registered (and you have verified your registration via email) when you leave your comment in the box below. We cannot send you a gift card without completed verification (answer the email that asks you to click through to verify

Norman, a new-hire electrician, has been sent out to rewire a control room in one of Hinterland Electric's oldest substations located in the foothills of the Northern Rockies where storms of one sort or another are a daily occurrence.

The frequently flooded substation has three sump pumps located about 150 feet from the control room, each with above ground 5 horsepower motors. The switches for the motors have long since lost their labels and the electrician that serviced the substation for the last 23 years has suddenly retired to a small island in the Caribbean and can't be reached. So Norman marks the switches 1, 2 and 3 and now his job is to figure out which switch goes to which motor. The simplest way is to turn on one switch at a time and go check to see which motor is running. But, as Norman is pondering the best way to proceed, a heavy rainstorm begins so Norman (always bright and innovative) comes up with a way to minimize his trips outside.

Can you do the same?

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