CH Tandem Breakers (Rejection Feature)

[busman]

I was in a Cutler-Hammer Loadcenter yesterday. It was a 30-space / 30-circuit model of the CTL variety. In the panel were 4 CTL type tandems. It appears that the only difference between the CTL and non-CTL tandems in the CH line is the hook on the breaker. What this seems to mean is that it's physically possible to put a CTL tandem in a slot where it shouldn't be and the end result is just that the breaker doesn't hook on and is loose. In fact this is how I discovered this. I noticed that these breakers were wobbly as I was re-installing the cover.

I know Sq-D has the big metal hook with the slot for rejection and all the type BR, siemens, westinghouse, ... have the notch in the bus-stab and the deeper opening in the breaker.

The question - is the type CH not REALLY a rejection feature?

I'm confused.

As always, thanks,

Mark

 

[busman]

Did I describe this badly. The question is simply will a type CH CTL tandem fit in a CTL loadcenter in a location that it's not meant to go?

 

[480sparky]

If you mean the hook on the breaker is on the end opposite the bus bar, I'd say it's a rejection feature. There would be a slot in the mounting rail to allow the hook to go into. Square D uses the same method.

 

[busman]

Maybe this picture will help. The spaces that are meant to accept tandems in a CTL have the extra tab as shown on the right. The hook on tandems is shorter than the one on regular breakers. When you buy a non-CTL tandem, it has the same plastic casing and two small metal fingers that grasp the bar without the long tab on it.