New answers tagged electrical-panel
0
You're probably only getting half your circuits because you're missing a service leg. You said it is connected to a 20 amp breaker with 10/2. That really sounds like you're running 120V when it should be 240V.
Your 10/2 can handle a maximum of 30A.
If you can upgrade the wiring to the trailer, get a 50A two pole breaker, two 4 AWG conductors and a neutral, ...
2
Ground fault detection
Your idea is not weird. The European practice is to have a whole house master GFCI (their term is RCD), but there are a few key differences.
European homes' current demand is much lower than ours, because their voltage is double and their houses are less "electric".
Their GFCI has a high 30ma trip threshold, which is good for ...
0
Put the circuits back where they were. You may be and try again. Always do one thing at a time when trouble shooting. AFCI can be finicky and can have issues if you cross phase. Bathrooms were split for a reason a/b phase.
0
Always follow local code.
National code does not require the main to be afci.
2017 NEC update states all residential living space 15a & 20A branch circuits to be afci protected either by breaker, or receptacle. Exception is kitch, bath, laundry, garage where you need gfci. You must update to current code when replacing, or repairing an existing circuit.
...
0
I can't see any reason why you would want the main breaker to be anything except pure overcurrent protection. You need to have overcurrent protection in case something really bad happens. But short of that, you don't ever want to have the main breaker trip because then you have no power. That isn't just because of refrigerators, but you also would not want ...
0
To build on fred_dot_u's answer, you can't add an outlet or upgrade the circuit size, because the actual wiring running through the wall is just not big enough to handle charging two cars at the same time. Splitting the circuit is basically just adding a new circuit, so that's not a thing either.
So, you need to add a new circuit. This will consist of ...
1
If your panel supports the load, a 220v circuit will be more effective for your two vehicle charging situation. It will reduce the charging time by more than fifty percent and allow you to charge in sequence rather than simultaneously.
Outrageously expensive is a subjective concept and would have to have a reference for your level of income. You can get a ...
2
Call the power company and tell them you lost a phase
This will explain all your symptoms. I almost posted this answer before hearing your reply, but your reply confirms it.
The power company should come out and do this for free on a Sunday - they did for me.
This is what is happening. Your supply wire to pole L1 (or the other, but let's say L1) is ...
1
If I were you, I'd go as follows (assuming US split 240v)
Run 8 gauge THHN from your main panel to your subpanel (in buried conduit) and use a 50A breaker in the main. Run 4 wires so you get 240v and ground. Should be more than sufficient for anything you can throw at it and you can always expand if needed. Be sure to ground your panel to a grounding rod ...
-2
(Not an electrician; if one shows up, listen to them instead. Also, I'm assuming America, or at least a 120V country.)
As I noted in my comment, one 20 amp circuit could handle the load you specified. However, there's always something you've forgotten, so I'd recommend going bigger. (Consider the load of someone running a microwave (10 amp), a hotplate (10 ...
2
It is a multi-wire branch circuit (MWBC) because it has 2 hot wires sharing a neutral. It's an MWBC no matter where the breakers are positioned. Breaker position decides whether its a dangerous MWBC.
It is not enough for the breakers to be next to each other. They must be a 2-pole breaker! (or single breakers handle-tied so they occupy the exact same ...
3
You're correct that there are several problems here.
First of all, if indeed breakers #4 and #8 are sharing the same neutral wire in a 14/3 with ground cable, then you're at risk of overloading that neutral. Correct MWBC wiring requires either a two pole breaker, or two adjacent breakers connected with a listed handle tie. Whether AFCI is required will ...
0
Your description is a little hard to follow. It's possible your BOX is a "Plug On Neutral" design, so the GFCI or AFCI breakers attach to the neutral bar when you attach them, and the hot and neutral wires to the circuit would attach to the breaker. (No pigtail wire to neutral.) If it's the older style box, the breaker for that box would have a pigtail white ...
0
The reason why you are only getting power to only breakers 1 3 5 is because u eliminated the other phase on your breaker when u turn it into a single pole breaker so basically u only have a 120 volt going to one bar in your your sub panel. If you take all your breaker out your sub panel you'll see that breakers 1,3,5 are all connected so u don't have power ...
1
As others have stated, there are multiple problems with your panel. I would like to point out a few things that have not already been covered.
The reason you had power to switches and outlets even when the circuit breakers were turned off is that you swapped places with the white conductor and the bare ground conductor when you reconnected the feeder (...
25
Oh dear. This is a foogly mess.
First, you did the right thing by punching that main panel breaker down onto a single. The problem is with the subpanel; it is very badly misconfigured by a guy who cut a lot of shortcuts.
First, it is illegal to double-tap neutral bar screws like that, unless the panel's labeling or instructions say they are intended ...
10
Edit: I wrote this answer before the photo was added. I will defer to Harper’s answer that goes into much detail about the problems.
You have a 240 volt sub panel which was fed from a 240 volt breaker. Now you’re feeding only half of the sub panel with a 120 volt breaker. Sorry, what did you think would happen?
Maybe you don’t understand how dual-leg 240 ...
5
You need a double pole breaker. More specifically, you need a breaker that supplies power from both phases on the main panel.
Half your breakers in the sub are now not powered because they were connected to the second phase. It’s not clear what they are tied to now.
0
Most people in the general population seem to believe that the size of the breaker indicates the size of the load, but that's nor true. Breakers (overcurrent protection) are installed to protect the circuit. We don't know the actual load of your RV. We only know that one of the standard feeders for an RV is 50A, but if yo are just parking it and the only ...
1
UBI is a 'replacement' stab-lok sold under various names. Chinese based company.
2/3 failed to trip below the 135% rated current.
Siemens/Murray looks about 2/3 passed at or very closely above.
Eaton, Square D and GE had no test failures.
This is NOT a huge test.
Second image is from testing 3000 breakers that were removed when renovations were done. ...
3
CEB Ltd. is a now obsolete panel mfr., but they used Cutler Hammer circuit breakers. You can still buy those breakers from Eaton (the new name for Cutler Hammer) and they still use the same part numbers.
Those are "bolt-on" circuit breakers, meaning the way they connect to the panel bus bars is a bolt (screw) instead of a stab-in arrangement. Bolt-on ...
1
Your profile says you are in Alberta. Federal Pacific in Canada never had the same issues as FPE in the US and never lost their listing ability, eventually separating off as a totally separate company because of what happened to the US, changing their name to Federal Pioneer to try to distance themselves from it. That entire issue doesn't apply to you.
3
If you have all of the other breakers turned off and the ONLY thing that is on is the Main breaker, then there is a problem between the main and the rest of the breakers, or between the meter and the main. If you have even 1kWH of power use when the Main breeaker is open, then that says there is a problem with the meter, socket or wiring after the meter. ...
4
Nope
Nope, nope, nope. This is called paralleling and there are several sections of NEC dedicated to it.
It has at least a half dozen requirements. This reuse scheme violates nearly all of them:
1/0 or larger wire
supply-side distribution cabinet specifically designed for paralleling
supplying cabinet from one source
same size conductors
equal length ...
5
As far as 40 vs. 50 - that depends on the manufacturer's requirements. The installation instructions clearly state:
A 50 Amp circuit breaker with wire gauge #8 AWG must be used.
So there you have it. 50 Amp - not 40 Amp. 8 AWG - not smaller. You can, of course, use larger wire - e.g., 6 AWG - that is always OK. But you can't use a smaller breaker - my ...
1
Typically you use 6 AWG copper wire for a 60A run, and 1 AWG Aluminum wire for a 100A run. Between the two, #1 aluminum is actually cheaper, though it requires more expensive conduit if you use conduit. (using conduit can be a convenience; Rigid conduit only needs to be trenched 6" of cover instead of 24" for buried cable, and Rigid provides a valid ...
-1
A lot of these guys r either half right or all wrong. Going from 60 to 200 greatly increases what u can add down the line assuming ur main is not loaded to high. The conduit is technically grounding ur sub panel but it's not copper and not up to code. Ur ground has to provide the easiest path for electricity and stainless steal or galvanized pipe is not even ...
-1
The connections on the neutral and ground bars should be in the same order as the corresponding circuit breakers.
This is neater and makes fault-finding easier. It might not be required by regulations, though.
0
Any spot on the neutral bar for the neutral, and ground bar for the ground, will do.
2
The correct wire for both 50A and 60A circuits is 6 AWG Cu or 4 AWG Al. That is because you are required to pull from the 60 degree C column of NEC 310.15(B)16, which says 55A, and you are allowed to "round up" to the next available breaker size.
At large sizes such as 4 AWG, there is no earthly reason to waste money on copper wire, provided that breaker, ...
0
Pricing questions are pointless since we don't know where you are, how you buy, or enough details about your installation to know exactly what size you need. But as a gross generalization, the difference will probably end up around 20% more for the larger wire, FWIW.
More importantly though, it will be a LOT cheaper than having to redo it later...
1
I believe the Google words you are looking for are meter main or meter main combination.
As long as the wiring in your house is downstream of a main breaker (not merely disconnect), that is fine. Remember since all the power from your service runs through it, you get to apply the 310.15(B)(7) derate of 83%; your wire only needs to be rated for 166A, not ...
0
On Square D panels, back then and into now (there have been few changes to anything), you have always been able to put 2 x #14 or #12 on each hole in the ground / neutral bars, regardless of if it is G or N.
But as previously stated, you must follow the mfr instructions. There should be (would have been) a paper label on the inside of the door that would ...
1
This pivots on NEC 110.3(b): You must use equipment according to its labeling and instructions.
If the labeling/instructions say you can do it, then you can do it. For instance my Pushmatic panels have wire capture slots on both sides of each screw on the N-G bar, so it's no trouble at all. My CH panels do not have this.
If your bars are full, the best ...
Top 50 recent answers are included
