Service disconnecting means?

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stephena

Member
Location
oregon
Can you use a main lug panel marked suitable for service equipment as a disconnecting means when u feed a subpanel through a breaker on the main lug service panel?
 

Smart $

Esteemed Member
Location
Ohio
Can you use a main lug panel marked suitable for service equipment as a disconnecting means when u feed a subpanel through a breaker on the main lug service panel?
Yes... and any other breaker in the MLO panel is also a service disconnecting means (or a disconnect for equipment permitted to be connected on the line side of service disconnecting means per 230.82).
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Most "loadcenter" panels are only suitable for use as service equipment if they have a main breaker installed in them and that main provides overcurrent protection for the bus, it possibly can be a backfed breaker with proper hold down kit though. You need to look at instructions.
 

electricalist

Senior Member
Location
dallas tx
Most "loadcenter" panels are only suitable for use as service equipment if they have a main breaker installed in them and that main provides overcurrent protection for the bus, it possibly can be a backfed breaker with proper hold down kit though. You need to look at instructions.

I see these panels and I just dont like them,,,100 amp breaker on the bus and no main lugs..
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
[/COLOR]I see these panels and I just dont like them,,,100 amp breaker on the bus and no main lugs..
I guess you don't have to buy them if you don't like them. Not sure what is all out there these days, many manufacturers have gone to main breakers that are not plug on types, but not all have, and sometimes you run into special circumstances where they ordinarily have a bolt on main but in some instances still have a backfed plug on main for a particular unit. One example I can think of is QO series panels are mostly all bolt on style main breakers or for three phase has a wire "link" between a main and the bus, but they generally use a backfed plug on breaker for a main for 100 amp three phase panels.
 

electricalist

Senior Member
Location
dallas tx
It's more that price for the application dictates which one is bought that I may have to install. Ch are the ones that I like the least and I have no legitimate reason other than ,,wasn't there a better way. The ch panels don't even have lugs so that I could make it a sub panel and get all 12 spaces.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
It's more that price for the application dictates which one is bought that I may have to install. Ch are the ones that I like the least and I have no legitimate reason other than ,,wasn't there a better way. The ch panels don't even have lugs so that I could make it a sub panel and get all 12 spaces.
Haven't been around much CH, but do recall they were good at doing that with 100 amp mains, wasn't sure if that was still the common practice.

When I first started in the trade the guy I first worked for primarily installed CH at that time, but then the main supplier in the area that sold them wanted to become a Square D authorized distributor - Square D made them drop other competing manufacturer lines if they wanted this distributor status, and that has been most of what I have installed since then back in mid 1990's. That supplier only has limited amount of breakers for other panels in similar "bubble packs" as home centers have, but has about any Square D breaker still in current production.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
The first panel is a mlo,, no ocpd and you want to feed a mlo panel from a breaker one the first?
I had to think a bit about what you said there as well as what was in OP, and finally concluded the OP question possibly is can you feed a "subpanel" from a breaker in a MLO service panel (that of course has no more then breakers serving as disconnecting means)?

Answer - yes, you have a proper feeder with this setup (assuming proper overcurrent levels for conductors and subpanel bus).

The bigger issue that may come up is whether or not the panel used as the service equipment is suitable for use as service equipment without a main breaker, otherwise as long as service disconnects doesn't exceed six, you are compliant with NEC.
 
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