Please allow me to play Devil's Advocate, and suggest that this installation is acceptable, and that none of the code articles mentioned so far would forbid it. I mean that none apply to this installation. Specifically, 240.15 (see post #8) would not be violated, because each circuit does have a breaker that does ?open all ungrounded conductors of the circuit, both manually and automatically.? My reasoning is that we don?t have a MWBC, as others have already pointed out. What we have instead is three circuits, each comprising a feeder, and each protected by a single pole breaker.
210.4(A) tells us that MWBCs are permitted to be considered multiple circuits, which tells me that they are also permitted to be considered a single circuit. There is nothing similar for feeders. In other words, nothing tells us that MWFCs (?multi-wire feeder circuits?) are permitted to be considered as multiple circuits or as individual circuits.
So it boils down to this: Are we allowed to share neutrals on a feeder? I can?t think of an article that says yes or one that says no. But if we are, then there is certainly no article that commands us to open all associated phases simultaneously (i.e., using either handle ties or multi-pole breakers).
By the way, millerjohn, I believe we are doing similar projects to the one you are describing. I haven't yet gotten to the detail of designing the feeders to the individual units, so I am interested in how this thread plays out. Would I be right in guessing that the acronym "CHU," or perhaps "CLU," might be involved in your project? :happyyes:
