20 amp receptacles
- Thread starter laecutter
- Start date
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- Location
- Lockport, IL
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrical Engineer
Is this related to a project at DFW, or is this for your home?
- Location
- Massachusetts
Yes but you will have to provide a means for simultaneous disconnection of both circuits.
Yes it is for a project at the airport. Yes understand about the disconnect. Some of my colleges are arguing that you can not do it, others say yes, just break the taps then you can run single pole breakers back at the panel, and the cord plug will serve as the point of disconnect at the service (plug). The objective is to be able to plug two vending machines into one duplex receptacle. My suggestion is to install a single dedicated 20 amp receptacle for each vending machine and coffee maker. Any other suggestions
Thanks
Thanks
- Location
- Massachusetts
The "Plug(s)" can not serve as the disconnecting means for the receptacle required by 210.7(B) in the 2005 NEC, I think it may be relocated in the 2008 NEC.
- Location
- Lockport, IL
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrical Engineer
That's fine, if you are talking about disconnecting the vending machine, to work on it. But as Bob pointed out, the real danger comes when you are planning to work on the receptacle itself.
Here's the scenario: You want to replace the receptacle, because somebody drove a luggage cart into it, or some other reason. You don't know for sure what breaker supplies power to it. So you open a breaker, notice that the vending machine lights go out. You don't notice that the other vending machine still has power, because it doesn't have any lights. You tag out that one breaker, move the two vending machines out of the way, and start removing the receptacle. You are now in danger of being shocked by the half of the receptacle for which the supply breaker is still closed.
To prevent this scenario, the breaker that supplies the top half of the receptacle and the breaker that supplies the bottom half must be configured such that if you open one, the other goes open also. A handle tie is a simple way of achieving this. That is the requirement that Bob cited from 210.7(b).
- Location
- Lockport, IL
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrical Engineer
Nope. It's in the same place, and its wording has not changed.
Ooh. I didn't know that got added. Good thing the last time I used it was under the 2002.
bullheimer
Senior Member
- Location
- WA
for what i think he is doing i dont see any problem with it. i think he ment to say the 3 wire circuit goes back to the panel. if so then you do need a handle tie or a 2 pole breaker to do this. and if you do do this, then the plug is FINE for a disconnect, just that i think you misspoke yourself and put at the SERVICE end of it. no, you didn't mean that did you ? if you did, how do you even DO that?
i read the code site and don't see where you guys are having an issue, other than that he used the word 'service end'.
split recepts with 3 wire is quite common in canada from what i understand and allowable here as well to satisfy the 2 circuit for countertop recept requirement. seems pretty vague right now tho, but there is something in the back of my mind that says i heard in canada they require (somewhere) kit countertops to be wired as above. abody know anything about canukia?
i read the code site and don't see where you guys are having an issue, other than that he used the word 'service end'.
split recepts with 3 wire is quite common in canada from what i understand and allowable here as well to satisfy the 2 circuit for countertop recept requirement. seems pretty vague right now tho, but there is something in the back of my mind that says i heard in canada they require (somewhere) kit countertops to be wired as above. abody know anything about canukia?
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