Birds Nest Wiring – This is a description applied when the inside of the control box is extremely messy, resembling a birds nest.
However, occasionally an actual birds nest is found inside the control box, as it is nice and dry in there, a good safe place to raise chicks out of reach from the local cats.
Why is it important?
When the control box is this messy, it makes fault finding more difficult and expensive, as additional chargeable time is spent looking for the problem or tidying up wiring etc. during the investigation process.
It can also lead to additional problems, as when wiring is disturbed or loose components moved around, connections can come loose and introduce intermittent faults or power surges can occur, blowing costly parts. Often the wiring used is single strand, which can easily ‘snap’ or ‘break’ within the plastic covering, remaining invisible to the naked eye.
Often ‘obsolete’ or unused components are left in the control box rather than being removed, which can confuse the engineer who has to confirm components are being used.
What can be done?
If space allows in the existing control box, or it not, install a larger control box, for future proofing, so that there is space for additional components.
Obsolete components can be removed, the remaining components can be secured in place, so that they do not move when the door is opened and labelled, to help with future diagnosis.
The wiring can be replaced with multicore wiring, so that if internal wires break it does not stop the flow of current, secured tidily in place and labelled.
Why do it?
Because it will save money in the long run as it should help improve gate reliability, especially if it prevents intermittent faults which require more than one visit by an engineer.