Watch out for these.

[jmellc]

Went to dealer last week for some Homeline AFCI breakers. Got to the job, pulled them out and they were a type I'd never seen or heard of. No neutral pigtail, but a clamp for mounting straight to neutral bar. I've been using AFCI breakers since about 2003, when I first got back into resi. never saw this type but the dealer said they were the original Homeline AFCI's. New to me. One more thing I now have to inspect as it hits the counter. Of course it was for a job that has been held up for every reason under the sun. Maybe I will get it done by the time I retire.

 

[growler]

One more thing I now have to inspect as it hits the counter.

I know what you mean.

It seems like a good idea but there are a lot of the older panels (homeline) out there.

 

[James L]

Went to dealer last week for some Homeline AFCI breakers. Got to the job, pulled them out and they were a type I'd never seen or heard of. No neutral pigtail, but a clamp for mounting straight to neutral bar. I've been using AFCI breakers since about 2003, when I first got back into resi. never saw this type but the dealer said they were the original Homeline AFCI's. New to me. One more thing I now have to inspect as it hits the counter. Of course it was for a job that has been held up for every reason under the sun. Maybe I will get it done by the time I retire.

Plug-on neutral. They've been doing it that way for a couple of years, but I don't know if every panel they make is set up like that.

I rarely use home line, though. It caught my eye in a Home Depot once, so I looked into it a little bit.

Keep your head up, though. You'll get through this job. And you'll either learn something from the experience or you'll forget all about it as time passes. Either way is good

 

[James L]

I know what you mean.

It seems like a good idea but there are a lot of the older panels (homeline) out there.

I was thinking that too. And I'm not sure about afci or gfci breakers, but twin breakers from other manufacturers don't seat into a homeline panel right.

If someone was forced to use a different brand in an older panel because the pigtailed version isn't available from Square D anymore, and it doesn't seat right, that could be problematic

 

[kwired]

I think nearly all new Homeline loadcenters are the type that accept plug on neutral breakers. Exception being the 6 space with horizontal bus and 2 space breaker enclosures.

QO line also has plug on neutral features, but not in every loadcenter.

 

[Bob V]

clarificaion

clarificaion

Square D, both in the QO line and the Homeline line (pardon the pun) have a newer version of AFCI and GFCI circuit breakers and load centers with "plug-on" neutral. These are awsome because you don't need to terminate all the white pigtails like you did before. The clip at the rear of the breaker makes the neutral connection. BUT you cannot use the plug-on breakers in a conventional panel because there will not be a neutral connection. If you use a non plug-on breaker in a plug-on panel you can still terminate the pigtail to the normal neutral terminals.