Fusing Light Poles

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Strife said:
I don't think it's a code requirement, but here in S FL all three counties used to require fuses in a pole. Heck, Broward county used to require fuses in any "ballast/transformer" luminaire. In certain ways I agree, in other ways I think it's a waste. It kinda makes sense to have the fuse blow on an individual light rather than take all lights out, but what do we avoid? At best an annoyance, after all all buildings are required to have emergency lights. Besides, in over 15 years I did service calls, I never seen a ballast take out the whole circuit. Same on light poles. There's higher chances to have a short down from the fuse in the ground than up the pole. And again from experience, I never seen a ballast take out the whole circuit.
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Happens all the time .... I would not even think of installing a pole light without an inline fuseholder. Makes it alot easier when it comes time for troubleshooting site lighting plus it's quite an inconvience for the customer to lose all their lot lighting or an area of it on bigger sites. JMHO.
 
I tend to not agree. Depending on each situation, that is. If a lot liting circuit is long and massive, fused at 50 amp, and the conducters have been derated and oversized, I say that a shorted ballast or component will burn the individual lead wire from the main trunk before a 50 amp breaker will trip; thus, indicating which lite is the problem without taking the entire circuit out. Generally, the lead wiring from a ballast or fixture is sized smaller, such as a 12 or 14. Plus, regardless of the conducter or fuse sizes, a ground fault is a ground fault and will trip before whatever over-current protective device is installed.
 
jazer said:
I tend to not agree. Depending on each situation, that is. If a lot liting circuit is long and massive, fused at 50 amp, and the conducters have been derated and oversized, I say that a shorted ballast or component will burn the individual lead wire from the main trunk before a 50 amp breaker will trip; thus, indicating which lite is the problem without taking the entire circuit out. Generally, the lead wiring from a ballast or fixture is sized smaller, such as a 12 or 14. Plus, regardless of the conducter or fuse sizes, a ground fault is a ground fault and will trip before whatever over-current protective device is installed.
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I understand what you are saying, especially on a high resistance ground fault but at the same time I would rather replace a fuse than replace wiring.
 
I have.

A commercial/govt customer had quite a few 480v light poles, and there were problems with the breakers tripping- and there was no apparent reason. So as to isolate the problem(s), we added fuses to the bases of each pole.

We used a fuseholder made by Bussman, that installed in-line and held a type CC fuse. The only drawback was that solid wire had been used, and it was difficult to adequately crimp the sleeves to the #10 wire. Bussman assured me that the holders were designed to properly crimp to #10 solid using ordinary hand tools, but IMO you really need either a better crimper or stranded wire.
 
Tap off rule

Tap off rule

Gategator37 said:
Has anybody ever fused individually light poles? Say I put several lights on a 50 amp breaker and a ground fault occured at the fixture, rather than it tripping the 50 amp breaker and taking out a whole row of lights it just opened the fuse.

If you guys have ever done this what type of setup do you use?

Thanks for your help.
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The tap off rule allows you to have little wires protected by big breakers...

Ken C.
 
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