QOD- 5/31/2007 - Electrical

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Q:
The service disconnecting means shall plainly indicate whether it is in ______________ position.

a.) open or closed
b.) tripped
c.) up or down
d.) correct

[Marc D. Shunk]

missionary?

[Paul W. Abernathy]

lololol

[Paul W. Abernathy]

240.81 Indicating.

Circuit breakers shall clearly indicate
whether they are in the open "off" or closed "on" position.
Where circuit breaker handles are operated vertically
rather than rotationally or horizontally, the "up" position of
the handle shall be the "on" position.

So while some others seem plausible ( lol..I said some..) the answer I was looking for is - A.) Open or Closed

[ccurrins]

Originally Posted by pabernathy

240.81 Indicating.

Circuit breakers shall clearly indicate
whether they are in the open "off" or closed "on" position.
Where circuit breaker handles are operated vertically
rather than rotationally or horizontally, the "up" position of
the handle shall be the "on" position.

So while some others seem plausible ( lol..I said some..) the answer I was looking for is - A.) Open or Closed

Alright! Today I feel smarter than 11 other people

[jkogel]

Where circuit breaker handles are operated vertically
rather than rotationally or horizontally, the "up" position of
the handle shall be the "on" position.

I think this means a standard 240 volt service panel should never be mounted sideways, because you can only put breakers in the lower slots so "up" is "on".
I imagine they are talking single switch panels here? Must be.

[Marc D. Shunk]

Originally Posted by jkogel

I imagine they are talking single switch panels here? Must be.

Most modern panels you can mount "upside down" or "right side up", and comply with the code. Most modern 8 and 12 circuit panels, for instance, must be mounted right side up to comply with the code due to the direction that the breakers operate.

There were panels in the past there the breakers plugged on in two horizontal rows. The top row meets today's operational requirement, but the bottom row is non compliant. Do you all call these out?

[Paul W. Abernathy]

John,

Basically they are giving the foundation here for ON being in the UP position and horizontals simply are fine......as for the mounting of a panel sideways...well here is some verbiage on that....

240.33 Vertical Position.

Enclosures for overcurrent devices
shall be mounted in a vertical position unless that is
shown to be impracticable. Circuit breaker enclosures shall be
permitted to be installed horizontally where the circuit breaker
is installed in accordance with 240.81. Listed busway plug-in
units shall be permitted to be mounted in orientations corresponding
to the busway mounting position.

cryptic huh....lol......so lets look at 240.81 to clarify....

240.81 Indicating.

Circuit breakers shall clearly indicate
whether they are in the open "off" or closed "on" position.
Where circuit breaker handles are operated vertically
rather than rotationally or horizontally, the "up" position of
the handle shall be the "on" position.

SO basically....an enclosure that contains a single circuit breaker can be mounted horizontally, but an enclosure containing a panelboard/loadcenter with multiple circuit breakers would have to be mounted vertically...based on the nature of the way the OCPD's are in a panel/loadcenter...

Did that clear that up any for ya...

[jkogel]

Yes thanks. Apparantly plain English is prohibited for code lingo!?

[jbreazeale]

If you mount your distribution panel inside the kitchen cabinet between the shelves behind the vent pipe for the range hood, does that mean it's ok to mount it sideways?

[Paul W. Abernathy]

lol...no it means you have violated the work space before you even got a chance to actually MOUNT it....so you end up putting it somewhere else...

[jbreazeale]

I know!! In the attic!! That way, I can just roll the romex out and drop it where I want it! BTW, I actually ran across this once. The listing in the rag said, "wiring completely updated!!!"