Hold-downs for QO breakers in arbitrary locations?

W

wwhitney

Senior Member
Location
Berkeley, CA
Occupation
Retired
Does Square D make a hold-down for a double pole QO breaker in an arbitrary location? As far as I can tell from the catalog, they only offer them for the upper right location.

If not, is there a generic alternative that can be used? With two double pole breakers left-right does putting a long cable tie around both breaker bodies really work?

This is for a system with PV and ESS and an MID; my understanding that the ESS interconnect breakers require a hold-down. Certainly if the ESS is operating in off-grid mode and you pop one of the ESS interconnect breakers off the bus, the bus terminals will be live unless the breaker is off.

Thanks,
Wayne
 
The upper right corner is traditional for backup generators connections, explains why the hold down is designed for that location. I'm not sure what might be available on the third party market that would work for a random location hold down. Are AHJs approving cable ties? That seems a little hacky.
You should have a PCS as part of the microgrid and if you can put a CT on the main supply to the panel then you to can use any position in the panel.
 
Most single phase residential panels only support hold downs in one, maybe two locations. It is, strictly speaking, a code violation issue for the system you're asking about, I'm guessing.
 
AHJ's in my area have specifically stated that zip ties around two adjacent breakers is not an allowable hold-down means.

I started a thread about this same topic a while back and didn't come up with any solutions. If I ever design a system with three or more FranklinWH batteries that have to be aggregated in a combiner panel, I might just have to spring for a commercial panel with bolt-on breakers. If there are any square D, Eaton, or Siemens reps out there, see if you can't come up with a solution for this problem.

Multiple Breaker Hold-downs in a residential panel

We have bumped up against a problem on several occasions where we need to hold down multiple breakers in a residential load center, and most load centers are designed so that only one 2-pole breaker space has the provision for a hold-down kit. We are currently working on a system with multiple...
forums.mikeholt.com
 
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