408.15... 42 overcurrent devices

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richardmoore

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This comes close to "trivia" but...

Do any of the "historians" here know how or why that exact number was determined? Logic would dictate that there had to be some limit, but I was wondering if there was a definitive explanation or rationale for the "42" in 408.15?

Thanks in advance,
 
Re: 408.15... 42 overcurrent devices

It's the answer to the ultimate question of "Life, the Universe, and Everything." If you don't understand why that is the answer, then you don't understand the question.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Been a "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" fan for too many years.

I don't know why the limit for breakers is 42.

So let me add a second trivia question. How did Douglas Adams come up with "42," when he was looking for a number to become the answer to the "ultimate question"?
 
Re: 408.15... 42 overcurrent devices

the answer is not as important as sending you on your next quest... to find the question.
 
Re: 408.15... 42 overcurrent devices

I knew 42 sounded familiar. :)

Deep Thought, the second greatest computer of all time and space took a mere seven and a half million years to provide that answer. Amazingly, the NEC arrived at the same place in under 100 years! The new question is how?

Actually...I have long suspected the NEC is written by aliens from a parallel (possibly in series) universe. This might be proof!

[ December 29, 2005, 04:35 PM: Message edited by: richardmoore ]
 
Re: 408.15... 42 overcurrent devices

I am not sure I am just guessing but here is food for thought.

42 divided by 3 is 14
14 divided by 2 is 7
7 three phase breakers on each side will give you 42
:)
 
Re: 408.15... 42 overcurrent devices

Not a bad guess. But here's another: Add up the "pips" on a pair of dice. That is, 1 pip for the first side of a die, 2 pips for the second, up to six pips for the last side, then double it to get the total for a pair of dice. That, so goes the rumor, is how Douglas Adams did it. ;)
 
Re: 408.15... 42 overcurrent devices

According to Anthony Montuori, Chief Inspector for the NY Board of Fire Underwriters, a lighting panel was restricted to 42 circuits as the result of a 1928 fire at the Waldorf Astoria. The cause of that fire was determined to be from an electric panel wired with type "R" cable whose overall heat load caused the fire. The electrical apparatus of the time could safely handle a 42 circuit panel while a larger panel could not.


From this site: Tradeslang.com
 
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