dmulhol925
Member
Can a power panel be used as a raceway?
Can a power panel be used as a raceway?
If somebody is going to use it for that, they need to do some math. I'd avoid the situation and avoid the math - and the probability that somebody is going to come back later, add a few things and destroy that math.
Can a power panel be used as a raceway?
no. however, you can run wires through it just like you can a raceway.
312.8 states that the enclosures for switches and overcurrent devices SHALL NOT be used as junction boxes, auxiliary gutter, or raceways unless adequate space is provided.
312.8 Switch and Overcurrent Device Enclosures with
Splices, Taps, and Feed-Through Conductors. The wiring
space of enclosures for switches or overcurrent devices
shall be permitted for conductors feeding through, spliced,
or tapping off to other enclosures, switches, or overcurrent
devices where all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The total of all conductors installed at any cross section
of the wiring space does not exceed 40 percent of the
cross-sectional area of that space.
(2) The total area of all conductors, splices, and taps installed
at any cross section of the wiring space does not
exceed 75 percent of the cross-sectional area of that
space.
(3) A warning label complying with llO.21(B) is applied
to the enclosure that identifies the closest disconnecting
means for any feed-through conductors.
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just because you run wires through it does not make it a raceway. it is only a raceway if it is a raceway.
I don't do maths either. And I don't worry about that which I can't control.312.8 states that the enclosures for switches and overcurrent devices SHALL NOT be used as junction boxes, auxiliary gutter, or raceways unless adequate space is provided.
If somebody is going to use it for that, they need to do some math. I'd avoid the situation and avoid the math - and the probability that somebody is going to come back later, add a few things and destroy that math.
As Bob stated with the 40% and 75% fill it's not likely that you could ever exceed those amounts even if you tried.
312.8 uses the term "wiring space"... so panelboard busing and breaker space are not included in the 40 and 75% determinations.Depends on whether you interpret that as 40% of the space left after the panel/breakers/etc have been included or 40% of the original internal volume of the enclosure. Or what might actually be reasonable in some circumstances, that the conductors plus device shall not exceed 40%.
just because you run wires through it does not make it a raceway. it is only a raceway if it is a raceway.
A gutter most certainly is a raceway. Personally I think that a panelboard is a raceway, too, but with 312.8 it doesn't needed really need to be debated.
No.is a gutter a racway?
No.
A gutter (in electrical equipment parlance) is an enclosure, or sub-enclosure used to supplement wiring spaces at meter centers, distribution centers, switchgear, switchboards, and similar points of wiring systems. The enclosure has hinged or removable covers for housing and protecting electrical wires, cable, and busbars.
A lot of electricians will likely call the wiring space to either side of a typical panelboard enclosure gutters, but they technically are not unless that space has a distinguishable framework and separate cover. If you look around at panelboard images say on Google searches, you see some that truly have gutters... but you'll usually see it on large gear. Most common equipment with gutters in my experience are MCC's.