Leviton Panelboard

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peter d said:
Leviton making a panelboard? :blink::happyno::sick::sick::sick:

Don't get me wrong, I really like Leviton wiring devices. But a panelboard? They should stick to the market they know best.

Now, if they enter the market and give the "big 4" a run for their money with better pricing, I'm all in on this Leviton panelboard. :p
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You're probably right. I think they'll have to be like Famous Amos and give away a few cookies before people will buy them.:thumbsup:
 
Jraef said:
I agree. They seem to be a solution to a problem they have to convince people exists in Resi applications...

But hey, if a homeowner goes to one of these high-end shows and sees it, then insists on it and is willing to pay needlessly for it, what the heck! I mean, does a Wolfe range really cook your oatmeal any better than a Sears range? My boss just spent $40k on new high-end appliances in his kitchen, he and his wife never even cook! He showed me his 3 door commercial $6k refrigerator, it had a gallon of milk, a sixpack of beer and some sliced cheese in it.

Yes, this does seem like an IEC adaptation. End-of-Life indication is a new feature being pushed in a lot of IEC devices now.
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The load center certainly looks high end with the window and all white breakers- but I can't see many appreciating that assuming a load center has to look like a David.


The rocker design seems to rely more on flags than the actual position to differentiate between on and off. The guts scream IEC from the limited breakdown I saw.


As for the hydraulic trip mechanism that was used heavily 40 years ago overseas, but it was phased out for thermal magnetic breakers. I have no idea why its being attempted again when history shows its not a good idea.
 
peter d said:
I was thinking of the NEC allowance to install breaker locks in lieu of in-sight disconnects. There does not appear to be any capability to do that with the Leviton load center.
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X2, maybe I am wrong, but I don't see provisions for a lockout.
 
MAC702 said:
Does removing the breaker count as locking out, being that it's significantly easier to do? I don't keep up on LO "rules" as I work by myself and use whatever method I choose for the job.

The 60A breaker limit was for the snap-on configuration. I think someone mentioned there were up to 125A breakers available.
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My issue is that the whole terminal layout is confusing as all quantum physics. On a 240 volt circuit, where do I land my hots? On both gold screws? Or the center white and gold as pictured in the brochure even though a white screw means neutral? What about an odd number of single poles followed by doubles? What if I need to move breakers down? I can see A LOT of people screwing this up perhaps even back feeding and killing breakers in the process.
 
Cow said:
If a wire burns up from a loose connection, a person used to just change the breaker and maybe spliced a fresh piece of wire onto the end of the one that burned off.

What happens now? The terminals are all separate from the breakers. Do you have to relocate the wire to a different terminal and put a breaker blank in the unusable space? Or can you replace just the terminal block?

These are a couple of questions I would want to know the answer too, before I would even consider the product. Component costs and predicted lifespan as well.
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All great points and questions.

I guess if we use a well calibrated torque screwdriver this won't happen. (just kidding)
 
mbrooke said:
My issue is that the whole terminal layout is confusing as all quantum physics. On a 240 volt circuit, where do I land my hots? On both gold screws? Or the center white and gold as pictured in the brochure even though a white screw means neutral? What about an odd number of single poles followed by doubles? What if I need to move breakers down? I can see A LOT of people screwing this up perhaps even back feeding and killing breakers in the process.
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re: the use of 2p breakers, I'm sure leviton has already thought of it. one way around the problems mentioned here would be that each 1p breaker spot would have a hot and a neutral. 2 spots for a 2p breaker would have 2 hots and 2 neutrals, and the 2 neutral tabs would either be removed or go into 'blank' spots/recesses on a 2p breaker. Thus a 2p breaker could go anywhere in the panelboard and hit both legs w/o getting landed on the neutral bar in the process. No tandems could be used with this setup tho. and I'd guess the neutral and hot tabs are slightly different in shape so that if one attempted to plug in a 2p breaker so that it hit 2 neutral tabs vs 2 hots, it wouldnt fit.

Some have mentioned IEC design... not familiar with that. Is IEC an old breaker co, an overseas model, ???
 
JFletcher said:
Some have mentioned IEC design... not familiar with that. Is IEC an old breaker co, an overseas model, ???
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IEC is an international standard for the design of electrical components, it's the international version of NEMA. It's well understood and accepted within the industry that IEC products are inferior to NEMA ones.
 
shortcircuit2 said:
Here is a new product from Leviton...

http://www.leviton.com/standalone/LoadCenter/index.html
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peter d said:
I've thought about it some more and read the comments.

I've concluded this is the worst idea for a load center ever.
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I think this is going to end up being more of a niche product, much like the trilliant mentioned earlier in the thread.
Nice and flashy but expensive and ridiculous. Trlliant was supposed to change everything, but turns out nails aren't too fond of a plastic can, and people couldn't justify spending xtra $$$ (the breakers esp...) for a product that offered literally zero sizable advantage over existing panelboards.

JFletcher said:
Some have mentioned IEC design... not familiar with that. Is IEC an old breaker co, an overseas model, ???
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As Peter d said, IEC has to do with standards- I believe there have been a multitude of threads about the differences vs. NEMA here before.
 
JFletcher said:
Some have mentioned IEC design... not familiar with that.
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You have prolly installed some IEC stuff and never realized it.

A fast and loose description could be:

If it is smaller, lighter, more exact to spec,and possibly cheaper but seems less robust, can wear out quicker, and is not as interchangeable as it used to be- then it may be an IEC and not your usual NEMA item.

Again, this is just a broad statement for generality.
 
JFletcher said:
re: the use of 2p breakers, I'm sure leviton has already thought of it. one way around the problems mentioned here would be that each 1p breaker spot would have a hot and a neutral. 2 spots for a 2p breaker would have 2 hots and 2 neutrals, and the 2 neutral tabs would either be removed or go into 'blank' spots/recesses on a 2p breaker. Thus a 2p breaker could go anywhere in the panelboard and hit both legs w/o getting landed on the neutral bar in the process. No tandems could be used with this setup tho. and I'd guess the neutral and hot tabs are slightly different in shape so that if one attempted to plug in a 2p breaker so that it hit 2 neutral tabs vs 2 hots, it wouldnt fit.

Some have mentioned IEC design... not familiar with that. Is IEC an old breaker co, an overseas model, ???
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Not the neutral bar- but the white screw. Which ones (gold and silver) become live when a 2 pole is inserted? I can see a lot of miswiring. Plus if one had to move a bunch of circuits around it would be a lot of work.


jumper said:
Inferior, no. Different, yes.

http://www.ecmweb.com/content/differentiating-between-nema-and-iec-style-products
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There is a reason why IEC standards are chosen over NEMA several times over in developing countries... In no way am I battering these countries, simply that when cost is a concern we go for the least capital investment option.
 
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