Easy Square D Powerlink question

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mudcap

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clinton township, mi,usa
Hi this might be the dumbest question ever posted here but the girl i have to work with is dumbing me down and has me doubting myself. I have 25 years in the trades. She went to one of those electric schools like what you see on the commercials during Jerry Springer for a year. Anyway, one of the buildings where i work they use a Square D Powerlink NF1000 G3 for lighting controls. This is something new to me as I am more of an Industrial Electrician. I had to go turn on some lights over the weekend that were programmed to be off so i pulled out the white tab to take it out of auto and into manual on a few of the breakers to get some lights on.
So here is the question. This girl insists that if you turn off a breaker the lights will stay on anyway if its in auto. I tried telling her that when the breaker is on you can set the timer to turn off and on but if you turn off the breaker its off. There is no power to the lights so how can the program tell you anything? Is there some magical way that I don't know about that will keep the lights on with the breaker off?
Someone told this girl this and i dont think she comprehended what they were telling her. She was telling me how stupid I am and insisting that all the breakers have to be in manual to actually turn off the lights. To me this is impossible and would have to be some type of safety violation. I havent been able to check this because people are working in the office during the day when the lights are programmed to be on. Someone please clue me in, thanks, Mudcap
 
iceworm

iceworm

Curmudgeon still using printed IEEE Color Books
Location
North of the 65 parallel
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EE (Field - as little design as possible)
mud -
I'm not familiar with the Square D Powerlink NF1000 G3.

And I have never seen a CB with an "auto-manual"
i pulled out the white tab to take it out of auto and into manual on a few of the breakers
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all the breakers have to be in manual to actually turn off the lights
Click to expand...

Could be you going to have to get the "book". I know that sounds disgusting.

However, it will help if you remember:
If a man speaks in the woods and there is no woman to hear him - Is he still wrong?
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T

texie

Senior Member
Location
Fort Collins, Colorado
Occupation
Electrician, Contractor, Inspector
mudcap said:
Hi this might be the dumbest question ever posted here but the girl i have to work with is dumbing me down and has me doubting myself. I have 25 years in the trades. She went to one of those electric schools like what you see on the commercials during Jerry Springer for a year. Anyway, one of the buildings where i work they use a Square D Powerlink NF1000 G3 for lighting controls. This is something new to me as I am more of an Industrial Electrician. I had to go turn on some lights over the weekend that were programmed to be off so i pulled out the white tab to take it out of auto and into manual on a few of the breakers to get some lights on.
So here is the question. This girl insists that if you turn off a breaker the lights will stay on anyway if its in auto. I tried telling her that when the breaker is on you can set the timer to turn off and on but if you turn off the breaker its off. There is no power to the lights so how can the program tell you anything? Is there some magical way that I don't know about that will keep the lights on with the breaker off?
Someone told this girl this and i dont think she comprehended what they were telling her. She was telling me how stupid I am and insisting that all the breakers have to be in manual to actually turn off the lights. To me this is impossible and would have to be some type of safety violation. I havent been able to check this because people are working in the office during the day when the lights are programmed to be on. Someone please clue me in, thanks, Mudcap
Click to expand...

If the breaker is in the manual off position the controller will not turn it on.
 
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GoldDigger

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Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
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Retired PV System Designer
M

mudcap

Member
Location
clinton township, mi,usa
retirede said:
Is it possible that when someone told her that, they were talking about a breaker that fed the controller only?
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Who knows. The first thing she ever asked me was what does the 32 mean in an F32T8 lamp? I told her 32 watts and she started arguing with me and telling me I was wrong. So i just said I don't know. Thats how its been 6 weeks so far. She's like an apprentice but way lower. They call her a helper. I'm forced to drag her around with me. She's really just supposed to carry a ladder for me. Instead she tries to tell me how to do every job. She went to one of those fly-by-night become an electrician in one year schools but acts like she has 40 years on the trades. This breaker thing is the last straw. I work Thursday thru Sunday 10 hours. Come Thursday morning I'm going to go off on this chick. I just need to 100% confirm there is no secret way that these lights could somehow stay on with the breaker off so I don't end up looking like an idiot. Plus she's a woman and a minority so I'm probably going to get canned anyway but I need to go out being right. I never worked with this system but I have worked with PLC and I'm halfway decent at Javascript and Web design/development so I think i get the flow of things and it just doesnt make any sense at all. Like what if the breaker tripped? Would it not trip because the program is in auto? There's a Master Electrician that works at a different building I can talk to about it but I kind of wanted to see what other people think. To me its a no-brainer but this chick is driving me crazy maybe theres a 1% chance I'm wrong though
 
G

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
The key thing to understand about the design is that the mechanism to control the breaker on and off remotely is not the same set of components that provide the OCPD and the manual off function.
 
M

mudcap

Member
Location
clinton township, mi,usa
iceworm said:
just curious:
Has anyone responding here actually read the operating manual?
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Yes I actually googled and tried to find the specs and read what I could but it was never mentioned in what I found, maybe because its such a basic question. There are like 36 different buildings at the campus I work at so I'll find one that has the same system tomorrow where there aren't a lot of people and try turning off some breakers and see what happens.
 
J

jim dungar

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Staff member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
PE (Retired) - Power Systems
mudcap said:
Yes I actually googled and tried to find the specs and read what I could but it was never mentioned in what I found, maybe because its such a basic question. There are like 36 different buildings at the campus I work at so I'll find one that has the same system tomorrow where there aren't a lot of people and try turning off some breakers and see what happens.
Click to expand...

Found this on-line in some promotional literature:
Principles of Operation The core of a POWERLINK AS circuit breaker is the highly effectiveSquare D trip mechanism. A 24 Vdc motor, along with a drive train andlinkage, provides remote operation capability. This motor is located in theleft pole of the 2-pole circuit breaker and the center pole of the 3-pole circuitbreaker.When the circuit breaker handle is in the on position, the motor and drivetrain can open and close the contacts. When the handle is in the off positionor the circuit breakers is tripped, the contacts cannot be closed remotely.

The auto/manual switching mode selector on the front of the circuit breakerprovides mechanical override capability. In manual mode, the motor drivetrain is disconnected from the contacts. The circuit breaker handle thenoperates the contacts like a conventional circuit breaker.
 
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