On Oct 24, 10:11*am, Gary H wrote:
On Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:54:26 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:



In article , wrote:
On Oct 22, 4:10=A0pm, (Doug Miller) wrote:
In article =
..com, wrote:

Aside from the 80% rule,

Which doesn't apply...

you can't get 400 amps out of a 200amp service.

Of course you can; it just depends on which circuits are in use. If you're
using only 120V circuits, you can get 200A on *each* leg. 200A @ 240V is the
same power as 400A @120V.

Yes but physically, a current of 200 amps is all that is actually
flowing. * Put a meter on it and you will measure 200 amps, not 400.
It's a simple matter of Kirchoffs law.

200 amps on _each leg_. It's a total of (up to) 400 amps at 120V.

200A on each leg. Where's the 400A?

Being able to add to numbers* doesn't mean reality works that way.

[snip]

* - Actually, that's incorrect too. The addends are out of phase, so
200 + 200 = 0.

Assume you are using one leg at 200 amps, that is all the breaker
will handle that is 120 volts X 200 amps or 24,000 watts. If you
again max out the breaker with 200 amps flowing on both sides that is
240 volts x 200 amps or 48000 watts. Thats the same as 120 X 400 amps.
I think the OP wanted to know if he could get a total of 400 amps at
120VAC. Lets rephrase that to could he power 400 individual 1 amp 120
VAC loads from this box under residential conditions. The answer is
yes but that sounds a lot like a commercial installation to me where
the answer would be NO. I think this is a case of getting the right
answers to the wrong question.


Jimmie