Detached building
- Thread starter nizak
- Start date
Dsg319
Senior Member
- Location
- West Virginia
- Occupation
- Wv Master “lectrician”
No not needed. 6 is the limit though I do believe.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
Assuming that the panel in the detached garage is located nearest the point of entry of the feeder conductors into the garage, the MLO panel is fine even if there is space for more than six breakers. As long as only six are installed it is code compliant.
Thank you.
- Location
- Lockport, IL
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrical Engineer
My less-than-perfect memory tells me differently. I vaguely recall that you would have to somehow permanently disable any breaker positions beyond the allowable six. My code book is not handy, so Charlie's Rule will not help me today. Any comments?
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
While many inspectors enforce that way, there is nothing in the code rule that says that.
I see nothing that even suggests that the panel not be able to accept more than 6 breakers.
- Location
- Lockport, IL
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrical Engineer
Thanks, Don. I remember seeing it somewhere, but that somewhere might not have had any official status.
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Occupation
- PE (Retired) - Power Systems
Most MLO breaker panel labels I have seen have language like: Suitable for Service Entrance when not more than 6 protective devices are installed.
The label does not cover every conceivable handle configuration, but it clearly expresses the intent to meet 225.33.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
Yes, but the requirement that the second building disconnect to be listed as suitable for use as service equipment was last seen in the 2011 code.
There is no restriction on the number of spaces in the panel, only on the number of disconnects that are installed at the time of inspection.
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Occupation
- PE (Retired) - Power Systems
Absolutely correct.
The label wording I saw seems to be common on many if not most MLO panels. So I put 2 and 2 together to get apples instead of oranges.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
Yes, and service rated disconnects were required prior to the 2008 code when you could just run the ungrounded conductors and grounded conductor to the second building as the neutral was bonded at the second building just like at a service. Requiring that the disconnect be listed as use as service equipment resulted in a factory supplied means of neutral bonding.Absolutely correct.
The label wording I saw seems to be common on many if not most MLO panels. So I put 2 and 2 together to get apples instead of oranges.
The requirement for SUSE for the second building should have been deleted in the 2008, but it tool a couple of cycles before that happened.