FPE Breaker, Amperage & Time

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kwired said:
Dennis did you read the specs you quoted below the picture.
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LOL, Nope I didn't but I am guessing that is a mistake or maybe they meant aic rating??? odd size. If you take 13,200 and divide by 240 you get 55 amps so I don't know what that number relates to. :grin:

I just looked-- It does have a ETL safety listing but it also had this...:confused:

CSA Listed : No
ETL Safety Listed : Yes
Safety Listing : No
UL Listed : N-No UL Code Rating
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G._S._Ohm said:
Publishing a trip curve that is valid over an ambient temperature interval ....
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There is no need to do this.
The breaker trip curve is intended to protect the conductor. The capacity of the conductor also varies with ambient temperature, so the the breaker stays in sync with the conductor.

All breaker curves are created using the same set of standards, so correction for ambient temperature is not even needed for coordination purposes.
 
jim dungar said:
There is no need to do this.
The breaker trip curve is intended to protect the conductor. The capacity of the conductor also varies with ambient temperature, so the the breaker stays in sync with the conductor.

All breaker curves are created using the same set of standards, so correction for ambient temperature is not even needed for coordination purposes.
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Probably yes. The I squared T curve of a conductor varies with the ambient temperature.
http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlux/hv/fuses.htm
For #16 copper at 25 C it's (178^2) x 5 amps-squared-seconds.
 
Longer than it takes to melt a pair of Klien long nose. I saw it happen when a guy used his to move a pinched hot wire and touched the can, nice blue spark then some buzzing, melting but no tripping.
 
Fpe concerns!

Fpe concerns!

I just read your post. ("I recently replaced a faulty FPE with a new breaker. On this kitchen circuit was a 1500w micro, 1800w toaster, stove fan & light. I explained to the owner that running these appliances will trip the 20 amp breaker.
To demonstrate, I place my amp meter on the circuits wire and turned on the micro and toaster. The meter read 29 amps. I waited (~1 minute). Nothing.")


I'm not here to answer your question but have a few questions/comments of my own...

The original 20a breaker had what size/type conductor terminated to it? (cu or al, # 14 or #12, thhn or thw or.. etc?

You say you replaced with a "new" breaker? I didn't know they made UL approved replacement breakers for FPE panels?

What size breaker is now installed? (assume the same size and type wire leaving the panel and feeding the loads hasn't changed?)

FYI.. Last week I found a 100A, FPE panel loaded with 1P/20a breakers and #14 tw cu under all of them and circuitry that had no thought put into it!

Everything I have read, discussed with other electricians, inspectors, engineers etc over the years is that FPE panelboards are dangerous, couldn't meet minimum testing requirements/UL approval, breakers that failed to trip 70-80% of the time in independent testing and are a fire and injury hazard! On top of that, having unqualified personnel wiring them (as is the case in the panel I inspected last week) adds additional concern for electricians, inspectors, homeowners, renters, insurance companies etc.

The following site has some good information on this and other subject matter: InspectAPedia.com

gman electrical
 
the question is how much did you pay for the FPE breaker? I just installed a 3P 60 breaker, it cost almost 200 dollors we pulled a 20 amp Sp out and I wonder how much one would actually pay for this breaker.
 
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