Maintenance of a commercial low voltage installation

A six-year-old popular jazz cafe in California was temporarily shut down due to poor maintenance of its 240 V electrical system. Although the electrical system had not greatly changed from inception, the failure could have been prevented by earlier analysis of the electrical system and by conducting periodic maintenance. Systems of this magnitude generally do not receive the attention that large commercial buildings do, but there must be many more small systems where similar problems could occur. This paper discussses the failure chronology of the cafe's power system. The main fault with the system and its rectification are also discussed.