On 2008-08-26, Smitty Two wrote:

Have you used a handle tie? There's some give. Wayne

I've not used them. Odd that they would make them poorly. Good to
note that it's the execution and not the theory that's at fault,
then.

It's not that handle ties are made poorly, it is that circuit breakers
have two (or more) functions: they can serve as a manual disconnect
and they can serve as an overcurrent protection device. Handle ties
only have to do with the function as a manual disconnect.

If you think about it, a circuit breaker has three states: on, off,
and tripped. Often to reset a circuit breaker you need to go from
tripped to off to on. As a result, the handle isn't rigidly connected
to the internal trip mechanism. So the handle tie can't rigidly
connect the trip mechanisms.

Cheers, Wayne