What is it?

Status
Not open for further replies.
It's a "suppression capacitor", used to reduce EMI emissions onto the line from whatever that breaker is feeding. Things that create a lot of EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) will turn the incoming line sources into antennae, blasting that EMI into other things that are connected to the same source. My guess would be that this breaker is feeding something with a Switch Mode Power Supply of some sort that does not have it's own EMI suppression built in, and there are some EMI sensitive devices elsewhere in the facility. I'm going to guess it's at a hospital or other medical facility (or given your location in Florida, a nursing home...)

Over the years rules have changed and most SMPS based equipment is now required to have it's own EMI suppression in order to get approval from the FCC (for the US) or CE (for IEC countries), but that was not always the case.
 
It's a "suppression capacitor", used to reduce EMI emissions onto the line from whatever that breaker is feeding. Things that create a lot of EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) will turn the incoming line sources into antennae, blasting that EMI into other things that are connected to the same source. My guess would be that this breaker is feeding something with a Switch Mode Power Supply of some sort that does not have it's own EMI suppression built in, and there are some EMI sensitive devices elsewhere in the facility. I'm going to guess it's at a hospital or other medical facility (or given your location in Florida, a nursing home...)

Over the years rules have changed and most SMPS based equipment is now required to have it's own EMI suppression in order to get approval from the FCC (for the US) or CE (for IEC countries), but that was not always the case.


The strange thing is that these 6 breakers feed normal residential unit panels
 
.1uF at 250V. That 250 working voltage is awful close to the nominal 240. Should have used a 400 or 600V cap.

Probably some idiot read someplace on the internet that it would lower the electric bill. At any rate, it doesn't belong their simply by virtue of the fact that those lugs aren't listed for two conductors.

-Hal
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top