In my opinion that would not be code-compliant. I see the internal fuses in the forklift charger as supplementary OCP. The wiring from the panel to the charger is a branch circuit and the conductors need to be protected at their ampacity.
I was afraid of that. I was hoping the panel disconnect could be construed as feeder protection and fuses would be branch circuit protection but maybe i am wrong.
and what happens if one of the #10 wires get shorted to ground? See why it is not compliant? Your 30 amp fuses will do nothing to prevent the garage from burning down.
and what happens if one of the #10 wires get shorted to ground? See why it is not compliant? Your 30 amp fuses will do nothing to prevent the garage from burning down.
Yes - I agree the install is not code compliant. However:
In this case, it blows the 50A fuse - highly likely inside the conductor damage curve. The fuse does not limit the load. The design does.
For the #10 to be in trouble, the fault would have to draw more than 30A and less than 50A - and be on the upstream side of the 30A fuses.
If the fuses can provide overcurrent (low amp) protection and branch circuit short and ground fault protection you could have a legal tap conductor installation.
If the fuses can only be counted as supplemental OCPD, then no matter how similar it is to the motor scenario, it is not code compliant.
Motors have overload protection built in so you only need ground fault and short circuit protection at the source. A ground fault is going to generate a thousand amps for a moment and then the over current is going to trip.Ok, I will play the Devils advocate on this one. How is this different from an AC unit that has a 30 amp breaker with #12 or #14 wire. I assume it is because the codes for motors have allowances for inrush current but insofar as the conductor protection there isn't any difference. The motor OVL is protecting the conductor as the fuses would be in the OP's proposed scenario.
Your overcurrent protection levels and locations are compliant, you do have a feeder tap properly protected and a branch circuit properly protected.
and they terminate at an overcurrent device within that unit. Put a fused disconnect between them and you still have to enter the switch enclosure before hitting the overcurrent device - kind of the same thing. I am not saying this install would be NEC compliant - but have not seen a clear answer yet that prohibits it nor have I seen one that clearly allows it.I disagree there, the tap rules require the taps terminate at an overcurrent device. In the OPs case they terminate at the battery charger unit.
and they terminate at an overcurrent device within that unit.