Minimum breaker Height

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jumper

Senior Member
Not that I know of, just a max to the center of a OCPD.


Found it:

240.24 Location in or on Premises.
(A) Accessibility. Overcurrent devices shall be readily accessible
and shall be installed so that the center of the grip
of the operating handle of the switch or circuit breaker,when in its highest position, is not more than 2.0 m (6 ft 7 in.)
above the floor or working platform, unless one of the following
applies:
(1) For busways, as provided in 368.17(C).
(2) For supplementary overcurrent protection, as described
in 240.10.
(3) For overcurrent devices, as described in 225.40 and
230.92.
(4) For overcurrent devices adjacent to utilization equipment
that they supply, access shall be permitted to be
by portable means.
 

Brandon Loyd

Senior Member
Not even a minimum height from bus bars to the floor?


Found it:

240.24 Location in or on Premises.
(A) Accessibility. Overcurrent devices shall be readily accessible
and shall be installed so that the center of the grip
of the operating handle of the switch or circuit breaker,when in its highest position, is not more than 2.0 m (6 ft 7 in.)
above the floor or working platform, unless one of the following
applies:
(1) For busways, as provided in 368.17(C).
(2) For supplementary overcurrent protection, as described
in 240.10.
(3) For overcurrent devices, as described in 225.40 and
230.92.
(4) For overcurrent devices adjacent to utilization equipment
that they supply, access shall be permitted to be
by portable means.
 

pete m.

Senior Member
Location
Ohio
Depending on where your panel is and if it is service equipment this may apply....


550.32 Service Equipment.

(F) Mounting Height. Outdoor mobile home disconnecting means shall be installed so the bottom of the enclosure containing the disconnecting means is not less than 600 mm (2 ft) above finished grade or working platform. The disconnecting means shall be installed so that the center of the grip of the operating handle, when in the highest position, is not more than 2.0 m (6 ft 7 in.) above the finished grade or working platform.

Pete
 

jumper

Senior Member
Depending on where your panel is and if it is service equipment this may apply....


550.32 Service Equipment.

(F) Mounting Height. Outdoor mobile home disconnecting means shall be installed so the bottom of the enclosure containing the disconnecting means is not less than 600 mm (2 ft) above finished grade or working platform. The disconnecting means shall be installed so that the center of the grip of the operating handle, when in the highest position, is not more than 2.0 m (6 ft 7 in.) above the finished grade or working platform.

Pete

Trailers, ack!!!!
 

Strife

Senior Member
I've seen a lot of comments similar to this. The code, and anyone's intent, is to be as safe as possible, without being impractical. Do we want to make something 100% foolproof while just the electrical cost of a house would be 2mill dollars? Who could afford those houses? And mind you, even then they wouldn't be 100%, so how about 10mill? is that acceptable? The buss duct disco falls into that category. Not sure how much buss duct have you bought, but is DAMN expensive.
So do we make it 100% foolproof and no one can afford it? or do we consider the impractical part of it? Again, I stress on no one being able to afford it. I know you can not put price on a life, but a safety measure no one can afford doesn't help anyone. A live forever drug that cost 100 trillion dollars doesn't help anybody.

Not even a minimum height from bus bars to the floor?
 

jumper

Senior Member
I've seen a lot of comments similar to this. The code, and anyone's intent, is to be as safe as possible, without being impractical. Do we want to make something 100% foolproof while just the electrical cost of a house would be 2mill dollars? Who could afford those houses? And mind you, even then they wouldn't be 100%, so how about 10mill? is that acceptable? The buss duct disco falls into that category. Not sure how much buss duct have you bought, but is DAMN expensive.
So do we make it 100% foolproof and no one can afford it? or do we consider the impractical part of it? Again, I stress on no one being able to afford it. I know you can not put price on a life, but a safety measure no one can afford doesn't help anyone. A live forever drug that cost 100 trillion dollars doesn't help anybody.

Huh?:-? I do not understand.
 

pete m.

Senior Member
Location
Ohio
I've seen a lot of comments similar to this. The code, and anyone's intent, is to be as safe as possible, without being impractical. Do we want to make something 100% foolproof while just the electrical cost of a house would be 2mill dollars? Who could afford those houses? And mind you, even then they wouldn't be 100%, so how about 10mill? is that acceptable? The buss duct disco falls into that category. Not sure how much buss duct have you bought, but is DAMN expensive.
So do we make it 100% foolproof and no one can afford it? or do we consider the impractical part of it? Again, I stress on no one being able to afford it. I know you can not put price on a life, but a safety measure no one can afford doesn't help anyone. A live forever drug that cost 100 trillion dollars doesn't help anybody.

I think it may possibly be a bit of a rant. Perhaps he is trying to say it is becoming more and more costly to comply with the minimum requirements in the NEC:confused:

Pete
 

Dennis Alwon

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
Think of a main distribution panel in a commercial establishment. The panel sit on the floor with enough space for wiring then the buss begins.
 

jetlag

Senior Member
Depending on where your panel is and if it is service equipment this may apply....


550.32 Service Equipment.

(F) Mounting Height. Outdoor mobile home disconnecting means shall be installed so the bottom of the enclosure containing the disconnecting means is not less than 600 mm (2 ft) above finished grade or working platform. The disconnecting means shall be installed so that the center of the grip of the operating handle, when in the highest position, is not more than 2.0 m (6 ft 7 in.) above the finished grade or working platform.

Pete

I know that one well ,If you install the meter at the poco favorite of 62" center height , and glue two 2" pvc adapters together as close as possible and connect the outside disconnect , from the bottom of disco to grade you slide by with 26'' give or take couple of inches for the brand of disco.
 

Strife

Senior Member
Can you check my message? There's a slight difference between buss bar and "BUSS DUCT". What I was referring to was that the code allows bus duct discos to be mounted on the buss duct, which is not the height the code normally allows. Let's say you run a buss duct 12 feet up, put a disco and pipe out. Now consider two 90's on the buss duct (or a T to go down to the required height) and an additional 5-7 feet of buss duct. That can run easily an additional 3-4K dollars on a 2000A buss duct (BUSS DUCT, not buss bar). Combine that with 10-15 locations for such a buss duct (BUSS DUCT, not buss bar).....

dont feel lonesome , you have company , cost of buss bars ? :-?:-?
 

maghazadeh

Senior Member
Location
Campbell CA
Your local power company may have a minimum height for meter/mains. SMUD requires a minimum of 48" to the center of the meter.

How about installation in a flood zone, there was a minimum height of 18" for out side receptacle of a dwelling unit located in flood zone. Maybe the same applys for breaker in qyestion.
 
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