Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

armoires tertiaires basse tension

English translation:

LV sub-distribution boards / cabinets

Added to glossary by katiej
Jul 15, 2016 09:41
7 yrs ago
5 viewers *
French term

armoires tertiaires basse tension

French to English Tech/Engineering Energy / Power Generation
Hi,

The article I'm translating is about installing electrical cabinets and carrying out wiring work for a cruise ship.

"Les armoires tertiaires basse tension servent à l'éclairage, l'alimentation des prises électriques..."

Are these armoires tertiaires known as commercial cabinets in a UK context?

Many thanks!
Proposed translations (English)
4 +4 LV sub-distribution boards / cabinets

Proposed translations

+4
13 mins
Selected

LV sub-distribution boards / cabinets

No! Certainly not 'commercial', don't know where you would get that idea from?

You have a main switchboard, then you have secondary ones, and (usually) finally 'tertiary' ones — though we wouldn't usually call them that in EN.

Depending on the exact set-up, the main and secondary ones might or might not be LV; but the tertiary one almost always will be.

There are plenty of other ways they might be described, depending on the configuration of the specific installation; but this would be a general-purpose solution that could hardly be wrong in any situation, even though there could be better solutions in certain instances.

Do note that in this context, 'low voltage (almost invariably abbreviated as 'LV') normally means 'conventional mains voltage' (220 V, etc.)


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Note added at 4 jours (2016-07-20 08:40:17 GMT) Post-grading
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'panel' is another possibility advocated by at least two peer commenters below; my personal preference is to reserve that for translating 'tableau', but it is certainly technically plausible — as so often, there is a choice of possible terms, and only knowledge of the actual form it takes makes it possible to unequivocally choose between them.

On a ship, I'd be inclined to think that this is indeed likely to be some kind of 'panel' located in a 'cupboard' — those have been very common on the ships I've worked on, but obviously other possibilities exist.
Note from asker:
Right ok, got it. Many thanks Tony.
Peer comment(s):

agree B D Finch : I think she "got the idea from" immobilier tertiaire! An easy pit to fall into, if you are a generalist translating specialist documents in a field of which you have no specialist knowledge.//Not saying I haven't ever fallen into similar. ;)
4 hrs
Thanks B! Oh dear, yes, I see what you mean! It helps, I suppose, if one knows that there are also 'secondaire' ones, as well as TGBT, of course ;-)
agree John Fossey : Only I think I would say "panels", not "boards"
7 hrs
Thanks, John! Yes, but cf. 'switchboard'; 'panel' is perhaps a better match for 'tableau'
agree Bashiqa : Yep. 'Panels' better than boards. Used to make them before I moved to France.
8 hrs
Thanks, Chris! Yes, but cf. 'switchboard'; 'panel' is perhaps a better match for 'tableau'
agree Johannes Gleim : I wondered, whether it could refer to extra-low voltage, but this is normally not used for illumination and mains sockets. I'd prefer 'cabinet' to 'switchboard', but other designations are also possible, like 'cubicle' or 'enclosure'.
1 day 20 hrs
Danke, Johannes! I don't believe so, as ELV is always described as TBT even in FR, and of course would not be used for power sockets. In distribution terms, at this level, 'BT' = 'mains' voltage
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks all."
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