400A camlock cabinet

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Sra328

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TLDR; need to feed 400A camlock connectors from 400A breaker, being told 4/0 flexible "welding" cable is acceptable, need supporting information and potential solutions/suggestions on best means and methods to achieve these connections. I am assuming regular copper conductors will be necessary.

Context:
I have been tasked with providing a 400A camlock cabinet whos function is to allow portable equipment to be wheeled up/plugged in as needed. To be fed from an existing 400A breaker in a distribution panelboard located in a parking lot.
The issue I run into: There is an engineer for the project who has advised us to use a 4/0 type W cable rated at 405A. I know a flexible cord/cable can not be installed in conduit/as permanent wiring. Set screw camlocks (hubbell pictured) can accomodate #4-4/0, however if the 400A wiring feeding these is required to be in conduit, I can not find any supporting code articles that would allow me to install a 4/0 from the breaker, through conduit nipple, into the hinged cabinet that would receive the female camlock connectors.
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What I am looking for assistance with:
(1) conductor sizing. I am assuming i will need to use 500Kcmil CU conductors and hypress either a pin adapter (probably not best practice) or a 90* 1 hole lug to utilize the threaded post style that is pictured below . I have seen Storm switch/Trystar cabinets with 400A CB's that connect to the cam lock connections were fed with 4/0 THHN's, which is a similar install to my situation (other than pulling power from my camlocks, rather than providing power to the camlocks as is typical with generator docking stations). Is there any code articles/exceptions that would allow me to provide 4/0 CU flexible cable to my camlocks, for a 400A feeder. (i am 98% confident the answer is no).
If anyone has any insight this would be much appreciated.
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1) The set screw type cam-lok connectors are made for finely stranded wire, such as welding cord. If you have an installation in conduit, then you will need to use an insulation type listed for building wiring, which also has finely stranded cord. Personally: I'd use the threaded post with appropriate lugs.

2) I'd use parallel conductors rather than a single 400A conductor. I don't know, but I am guessing that it is okay to use 2x 3/0 conductors to 2x 90 degree lugs on a single threaded post.

-Jon
 
I've installed many of them several years ago when we were building a Broadway theater. Everything is in one enclosure including the OCPD and the camloks.
 
Make sure you verify the desired gender for the ground (and neutral, if present) camlocks. In the theater and live production world, you often find ground and neutral with the opposite polarity to make it harder to plug a ground cable into a phase camlock.
 
zbang said:
From what I've seen, gender-reversed cams has been on the way out for 20+ years, I hardly ever see that anymore. Maybe some bright-eyes engineers think it's a good idea, but few of the people making the connections do.
Click to expand...
Completely depends on who's spec-ing them. Theater very commonly uses reverse-gender N & G. Movie production, straight-gender. I can't really speak to emergency power. The standard is, there is no standard. Always pack gender-benders when touring with Cam-Lock feeder - whatever you think you need will be wrong when you get to the venue and need to get lighting and rigging power online for the load-in.

And pack a set of bare tails to cams as well, because someone decided the best choice was just to provide lugs. That way everyone is disappointed, rather than just some people 😄



SceneryDriver
 
And those tails had better be at least 6-8' long since the hots will be at one end of the panel and the neutral at the other. And a lug for the ground, since those are usually missing. And a bolt for the lug. Etc etc :D

And people wonder why the kit is so heavy.

(I don't think I've had a rental generator with reversed cams in years, and that was a studio generator that also had BARS(!) and paralleling gear. All the others had lugs and female camloks.)
 
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