- Location
- Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
- Occupation
- Hospital Master Electrician
I got a question from a guy, not quite sure what to advise; I told him I'd ask here.
There is a 1600A 480V service with GFPE protection, supplying a panelboard with a 277V single pole 20A breaker which supplies parking lot lights. The feeder run from service to panel is an average length, and the circuit length of the parking lot lights is probably around 400'.
A head in a parking lot light faulted (presumably to ground) and tripped the service GFPE. The equipment is Square-D, installed new five years ago.
When the event occurred, the display on the GFPE read "44" or something, and on the second occurrence read "49" or something like that; I've slept since then.
It took three attempts for the circuit breaker of the circuit to trip, and I believe the GFPE triggered the third time in concert with the branch circuit breaker.
So the question is, is the trip setting of the GFPE wrong? Is the GFPE defective? Is the branch circuit breaker defective? For Square D to come out and verify the settings on the equipment at this point would be $500, and the foreman does not believe that to be necessary at this time, just isn't certain exactly what went wrong here.
Please do not launch into a string of comments about resetting circuit breakers without testing, and what have you. I do not know all the details, and trust the competency of the foreman who posed this question to me.
There is a 1600A 480V service with GFPE protection, supplying a panelboard with a 277V single pole 20A breaker which supplies parking lot lights. The feeder run from service to panel is an average length, and the circuit length of the parking lot lights is probably around 400'.
A head in a parking lot light faulted (presumably to ground) and tripped the service GFPE. The equipment is Square-D, installed new five years ago.
When the event occurred, the display on the GFPE read "44" or something, and on the second occurrence read "49" or something like that; I've slept since then.
It took three attempts for the circuit breaker of the circuit to trip, and I believe the GFPE triggered the third time in concert with the branch circuit breaker.
So the question is, is the trip setting of the GFPE wrong? Is the GFPE defective? Is the branch circuit breaker defective? For Square D to come out and verify the settings on the equipment at this point would be $500, and the foreman does not believe that to be necessary at this time, just isn't certain exactly what went wrong here.
Please do not launch into a string of comments about resetting circuit breakers without testing, and what have you. I do not know all the details, and trust the competency of the foreman who posed this question to me.