- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
Panels in Canada
- Thread starter Dennis Alwon
- Start date
- Status
marksluser
Member
- Location
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Occupation
- Automation and Software Engineer
Nice job. I like how you coiled up the comm cables. Also you didn't overlap the power cables for easy modification.
Coppersmith
Senior Member
- Location
- Tampa, FL, USA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
No matter how many times I see them, those sideways mounted panels look weird.
rubad55
New User
- Location
- Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Occupation
- Electrician
Side ways panel are the only way to go for a rewire with new service as the old panel is usually mounted the same way.
Buck Parrish
Senior Member
- Location
- NC & IN
I've seen the sideways panels like that in Indiana. The main problem is off is in the up position. 
texie
Senior Member
- Location
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- Occupation
- Electrician, Contractor, Inspector
AFAIK this was never allowed here-even in the olden days. But the Canadians have done this forever.I've seen the sideways panels like that in Indiana. The main problem is off is in the up position.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
The Canadian Electrical Code requires the service conductors be in a separate compartment and no feeder or branch circuit conductors are permitted to be in that compartment. Since the compartment for the service conductors extends across the complete width of the enclosure, there is no top entry of the branch circuits unless you turn the enclosure on its side. Their code does not have a rule equivalent to our 240.81. Their design does a much better job of preventing contact with the energized service conductor than does our insulating barriers.
texie
Senior Member
- Location
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- Occupation
- Electrician, Contractor, Inspector
Given the big push toward more electrical safety in recent years and and the trend in the NEC the last 2 cycles toward barriers in service equipment, it would not surprise me to ultimately see the NEC requiring all service disconnects to be in their own enclosure or section.
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
Canada is ahead of us on this one for sure... I still thing a sideways mount would be a hard sell around here even if 240.81 were amended.
I think I would run the conductors to the bottom & side of the panel before I turned it sideways.
I think I would run the conductors to the bottom & side of the panel before I turned it sideways.
texie
Senior Member
- Location
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- Occupation
- Electrician, Contractor, Inspector
Agreed. The sideways thing is really hokey.
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
How do they deal with upside-down breakers on the "bottom" side?
texie
Senior Member
- Location
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- Occupation
- Electrician, Contractor, Inspector
I guess they don't have that requirement in the CEC like we have in the NEC.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
- Occupation
- Licensed Electrician
There are some old QO panels out there that half the breakers turn off toward up side and the other half turn off toward the down.
texie
Senior Member
- Location
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- Occupation
- Electrician, Contractor, Inspector
Now that you mention it, I remember those too.
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Occupation
- PE (Retired) - Power Systems
I know the older (pre 1940) MO panel had breakers pointing 'upside down'.
I did find an adapter frame that allowed QO breakers to be installed in an MO-8 enclosure.
My 1960 QO catalog page is not definitive as to the position of breakers in QO6 and QO8 panels, but the way it lists the box dimensions I think the breakers are intended to be sideways not up and down.
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
They just assume that the people who access their panels know how to read
Well that is a dumb assumption....
- Occupation
- Licensed Electrician
The ones I'm thinking of would be 1970s vintage, eight circuits or so and by all appearance made to install with the top breakers pointing down.
ITE EQ 4, EQ 6, & EQ 8 panels also had breakers on top, Cutler-Hammer, GE, & Bryant, had the same type of panels where the breakers on top handles were down when on.
- Status