[pjkPA]

Can you put a 3 pole breaker in space bca (4,6,8) or do they have to go into a space like 2,4,6 or 38,40,42?

 

[MechanicalDVR]

Welcome aboard!

Can you tell us a little about you?
Are you an electrician?

Maybe fill out your profile so we know who we are talking to.

 

[pjkPA]

Welcome aboard!

Can you tell us a little about you?
Are you an electrician?

Maybe fill out your profile so we know who we are talking to.

I'm a Sr elec designer doing side work and was looking for a opinion or code ref

 

[MechanicalDVR]

Hmm...should you be doing side work?

 

[pjkPA]

Hmm...should you be doing side work?

I'm 67 and semi retired... I was a registered electician for 42 yrs ... and a electrical designer for a large EC company for 45 yrs. .... never worked a "union" job if that's what your after.

 

[MotoGP1199]

No disrespect but, I don't think he's after union or non union but the question you asked I think a 2nd year apprentice would know. An electrical designer should clearly understand the concept of 3 phase voltage transmission.

 

[pjkPA]

No disrespect but, I don't think he's after union or non union but the question you asked I think a 2nd year apprentice would know. An electrical designer should clearly understand the concept of 3 phase voltage transmission.

Yes that is disrespect.... but am looking for a code ref .. maybe a load balancing or panel design criteria.. thought this might be a good place to start... obviously not ...your obviously too smart to ask that kind of question.

 

[Kevin_Essiambre]

As long as you connect the phases properly whats the issue?

 

[pjkPA]

As long as you connect the phases properly whats the issue?

We had a existing panel to get a feed from … we always install 3 phase breatkers ABC .. the existing breaker we are looking at is installed BCA … we wanted to replace it with a larger breaker to subfeed another small panel.
Just wanted to run the question by … just looking for opinion...just to make sure...its always good to get more opinions.... thought that is what this forum was for?

 

[just the cowboy]

Ok now that you supplied more information we can help.
BCA install is fine for branch circuits it is done all the time. But since you are going to feed a subpanel it would be " good Practice" to move things around to ABC for the feed. The leads should be marked/taped and landed ABC in new panel no matter what ABC same as the main.

Cowboy

 

[pjkPA]

We were wondering about the load balancing when changing phases to sub panel … is there a code that addressed this.

 

[MotoGP1199]

Everything would work fine. Just make sure if you have a high leg on the first panel that is is landed on the B phase in the second panel(per code). It is best to Keep Phase A, B, C, all in the same orientation on the new panel. Loading would not change as you are taking all three phases from one panel to the next. However some panels do have a limit on the amperage of breakers that can be set in certain locations. IE. Some will not let you put a 125 amp breaker in the bottom half of the panel. A sticker on the door will usually note this if its an issue.

 

[MotoGP1199]

I should add that one other thing that might come into play is the total amperage draw of your new panel and old panel on the service. You would have to make sure that the total amperage(actual draw) of the loads on both panels is not over what your service is rated for.

 

[MikeFL]

@pjkPA please fill out your profile including and especially your Electric Trade by clicking on your avatar & selecting Account Settings.

Otherwise it's extra work for moderators to verify that you meet the requirements to post on this site.

Thanks & stay safe.

 

[pjkPA]

Everything would work fine. Just make sure if you have a high leg on the first panel that is is landed on the B phase in the second panel(per code). It is best to Keep Phase A, B, C, all in the same orientation on the new panel. Loading would not change as you are taking all three phases from one panel to the next. However some panels do have a limit on the amperage of breakers that can be set in certain locations. IE. Some will not let you put a 125 amp breaker in the bottom half of the panel. A sticker on the door will usually note this if its an issue.

Thanks Mike ... now thats the kind of info we were looking for ...thanks for the info!

 

[RICK BOYD]

Can you put a 3 pole breaker in space bca (4,6,8) or do they have to go into a space like 2,4,6 or 38,40,42?

are you running motors on this branch bca vs abc phase could it affect rotation direction ?

 

[micromind]

It'll work that way and there's no code against it and phase rotation will be the same but every time I see it, my first thought is 'what hack did this'?

I've seen it plenty of times on engineered drawings......same thought.......

 

[Dennis Alwon]

We were wondering about the load balancing when changing phases to sub panel … is there a code that addressed this.

Say you have a 100 amp 3 phase breaker. The load on the breaker is 80 amps...
CBA--- C has 80 amps, B has 80 amps, A has 80 amps

ABC-- Same load distribution A= 80 amps, B= 80 amps, C=80 amps

 

[VELOCI3]

Engineer$


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[pjkPA]

I should add that one other thing that might come into play is the total amperage draw of your new panel and old panel on the service. You would have to make sure that the total amperage(actual draw) of the loads on both panels is not over what your service is rated for.

Thanks Kevin appreciate the comment we were just trying to make sure we didn't miss something.