Source for old QO panel covers?

[David Meiland]

I'm a general contractor, one of my customers has a 1970s house with (2) 200-amp QO panels that have the wrong covers. They are an impressive display of butchery. My electrician looked around a bit for the correct covers, came up with nothing. I've done a bit of googling but so far no luck. Any recs for a place that might have either used or NOS covers for these panels? Looks like what is needed is QOC 40MG225S. Thank you.

 

[brantmacga]

Im not sure if this company sells loadcenter parts, but worth a shot;

https://www.duvalbreaker.com

I buy obsolete breakers and panelboard parts from them. Good company to deal with.


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[brantmacga]

Source for old QO panel covers?

.

 

[norcal]

Any used building material yards in the area? Have seen loadcenter fronts on eBay but they want your first born & your soul for the ones I saw, Habitat for Humanity, ReStore, is another place, but all of them are iffy.

 

[jumper]

Proper gauge sheet metal cuts and appropriate fasteners can do a lot towards wooing an inspector..

 

[growler]

I'm a general contractor, one of my customers has a 1970s house with (2) 200-amp QO panels that have the wrong covers. They are an impressive display of butchery. My electrician looked around a bit for the correct covers, came up with nothing.

If you remove the sheet rock from around the panels an electrician should be able to change out both panels in a day.

The materials are not that expensive so the electrician may be willing to give a good price just to install new panels.

Think about it. new panels with all tight connections and maybe good for another 40 years.

 

[electrofelon]

Why not put in filler plates?

 

[growler]

Why not put in filler plates?

That could help some but it looks like a "Home Line " cover on a "QO" panel. It's still going to be labeled wrong.

Why spend a half day trying to do a half assed job of repairing a problem when you can spends a day and do things right.

I would assume that a house that needs a 400 amp service is worth spending a little money on.

 

[electrofelon]

That could help some but it looks like a "Home Line " cover on a "QO" panel..

Oh, I see that now.

 

[infinity]

Home Depot sells 30 circuit QO replacement covers, not sure if they sell any other configurations. Many supply houses sell the Sq D covers separately so you might be able to order them.

 

[norcal]

Home Depot sells 30 circuit QO replacement covers, not sure if they sell any other configurations. Many supply houses sell the Sq D covers separately so you might be able to order them.

The problem is that those panels are out of production models with vertically mounted main breakers, not the horizontally operated handle breakers used in current production.

 

[brantmacga]

Source for old QO panel covers?

The other option is to have a fab shop build you a cover; sort of like a deadfront cover. Have them cut out for the entire length of the buss bar and fill it with blanks.

Square D sells a hinged door that you could put over the face of it. I don’t know the part number off the top of my head but it’s the door kit you have to buy for the 60-space load centers. You could then buy some square d grey paint for the deadfront to make it match.


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[brantmacga]

Here’s a pic of the 60 space .... it comes with just a deadfront.

Here is a link to the data sheet. Look at page 2 and you’ll see the hinged door kit.

http://download.schneider-electric....918.31534414.1533502674-1431019568.1485303149


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[kwired]

Home Depot sells 30 circuit QO replacement covers, not sure if they sell any other configurations. Many supply houses sell the Sq D covers separately so you might be able to order them.

Homeline only makes one cover for each cabinet. QO makes a surface and a flush cover for each cabinet. Purchase QO at big box store and it includes a flush cover which will still work for surface mount though a surface cover looks a little more like you knew what you were doing. Purchase QO loadcenter at an electrical supplier and you must purchase cover separately. Cutler Hammer CH used to be this way as well, probably still is - I just don't have a supplier for them other than big box stores anymore. I think nearly all others only have the "combination" surface/flush covers for their loadcenters and they are packed in same box as the loadcenter and sold as one unit.

 

[David Meiland]

Why not put in filler plates?

I didn't take off the duct tape, but it looks to me like they cut out the main breaker opening in the left cover, and the right one covers about half of the main breaker.

I thought about having my metal fabricator make new covers, which he could do, but it's outside of my comfort zone to do anything other than (1) find new, correct covers and hand them to my electrician to install, or (2) tell the owner that they need completely new panels. The liability of anything else isn't worth it. I want correct, listed parts. My electrician thought it might be possible to find used or NOS covers that would work, and my hope was that someone here would say "oh yeah, you can get those from ___________" or something like that. That hasn't happened, so I think we're moving towards option 2 at this point.

 

[LarryFine]

Compromise: new guts and cover in existing enclosure.

 

[jumper]

Compromise: new guts and cover in existing enclosure.

Er, the GC wants to pay the EC to totally replace. Sounds good....

 

[kwired]

I didn't take off the duct tape, but it looks to me like they cut out the main breaker opening in the left cover, and the right one covers about half of the main breaker.

I thought about having my metal fabricator make new covers, which he could do, but it's outside of my comfort zone to do anything other than (1) find new, correct covers and hand them to my electrician to install, or (2) tell the owner that they need completely new panels. The liability of anything else isn't worth it. I want correct, listed parts. My electrician thought it might be possible to find used or NOS covers that would work, and my hope was that someone here would say "oh yeah, you can get those from ___________" or something like that. That hasn't happened, so I think we're moving towards option 2 at this point.

Such covers may be included in listing of the loadcenter, but NEC doesn't necessarily require them to be listed. To the NEC it is a "cabinet" and the interior portion is a "panelboard" The manufacturer just made a complete set where components fit one another well.

Finding an OEM replacement will come down to luck of finding someone that has the one you need. I have held onto a few old covers and occasionally find a place where one is missing. But then I decided I was accumulating too much old junk and have gotten rid of most of them. Anyone that wants to stockpile a wide variety of such things should want enough for them to be worth the time and space to store them that you still should be considering a newer replacement loadcenter. - JMO.

 

[Craigv]

Such covers may be included in listing of the loadcenter, but NEC doesn't necessarily require them to be listed. To the NEC it is a "cabinet" and the interior portion is a "panelboard" The manufacturer just made a complete set where components fit one another well.

A cover may not be separately listed, but in the case of cabinets with multiple cover options, it's part number(s) would be specified in the listing or labeling. This means one of the specified covers must be used, and would preclude user-fabricated covers. The only option would be to not use a cover at all, if allowed in the listing, in identified enclosures with access limited to qualified persons (408.38).

 

[kwired]

A cover may not be separately listed, but in the case of cabinets with multiple cover options, it's part number(s) would be specified in the listing or labeling. This means one of the specified covers must be used, and would preclude user-fabricated covers. The only option would be to not use a cover at all, if allowed in the listing, in identified enclosures with access limited to qualified persons (408.38).

408.38 says - Panelboards shall be mounted in cabinets, cutout boxes, or identified enclosures and shall be dead-front. No mentioning of listing being required.

Sorry but I don't find any other requirement for the cabinet to be listed, other than in 312.10(C) for non metallic cabinets.

That said each manufacturer typically has a cabinet made to fit their panelboard(s). I don't know if they are listed or not.
Loadcenters that come as all in one (cabinet and panelboard already assembled) typically are listed as a unit. But I don't think anything in NEC prevents you from taking the panelboard out and putting it in some other cabinet. You would still need to comply with 408.38 and have a "dead front" though.