BQD vs I-LINE panelboards

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Davebones

Senior Member
Have existing switchgear . ( 1600 bolt-loc feeds I-line panel , 400 amp I-Line breaker feeds I-Line panel , 200 amp I-line breaker feeds 200 amp main breaker Siemens BQD panel ) . I have all the I-lines with 18,000 aic or more rateings . The BQD branch breakers are all 14,000 aic rated .The distance from the the main switch to this last panel is about 150ft . Is this a concern that we should consider having a EE go thru and verify the AIC rateings ?
 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
Have existing switchgear . ( 1600 bolt-loc feeds I-line panel , 400 amp I-Line breaker feeds I-Line panel , 200 amp I-line breaker feeds 200 amp main breaker Siemens BQD panel ) . I have all the I-lines with 18,000 aic or more rateings . The BQD branch breakers are all 14,000 aic rated .The distance from the the main switch to this last panel is about 150ft . Is this a concern that we should consider having a EE go thru and verify the AIC rateings ?

If it is existing, just how much of it do you want to get verified? If you are adding on, it makes sense to look at what you are adding, but it is not rocket science.

The thing is that if you don't know if the upstream stuff is right, how do you know what to do downstream?
 

jim dungar

Moderator
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Location
Wisconsin
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PE (Retired) - Power Systems
Is this a concern that we should consider having a EE go thru and verify the AIC rateings ?
The ratings of the existing equipment are meaningless without knowing the available short circuit current at each panel.

It is possible that neither panel is applied correctly.
 

Jraef

Moderator, OTD
Staff member
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
The ratings of the existing equipment are meaningless without knowing the available short circuit current at each panel.

It is possible that neither panel is applied correctly.
I think that's an excellent point. You are ASS-U-Me-ing the original I-Line panel was correctly selected for the installation. You also must consider that there may be a series rating issue at hand with whatever is feeding this I-Line panel, and no way a Siemens panel will be series rated with a Sq. D panel, the only way to do that would be to use a licensed PE.
 
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