DIYbanter - View Single Post

Art Todesco

On 8/24/2013 11:13 AM, wrote:
On Sat, 24 Aug 2013 07:45:15 -0700, RobertMacy
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Aug 2013 07:40:51 -0700, Tom Horne wrote:

On Saturday, August 24, 2013 9:47:29 AM UTC-4, Ivan Vegvary wrote:
I have a sub-panel in my greenhouse that is fed by an incoming wire
from the main house panel. The incoming wire is directly feeding a 30
amp breaker, therefore I can disconnect the power to the panel by
simply tripping the breaker therein. (Also within the panel are two
additional 15 amp breakers, one for lights and the other for a single
outlet.

I've always liked the convenience of the "breaker input" instead of
hard wiring the input directly to the panel. Does this method meet
code? Any hazards? Any down-side?

Thanks for all replies.

Ivan Vegvary

The code requires that all equipment be installed in accordance with
it's listing and marking. If you check that equipment in the listings
you will find that you are instructed to use a tie down kit when using a
plug on breaker as a main breaker for the buss that it plugs on to.
That is so that the breaker can not be readily removed from the buss
while it's buss clamps are energized. Install the listed tie down kit
and you are good to go.

Is the feeder to the greenhouse panel three wire or four?
Is your greenhouse a detached structure in relation to the building in
which the Service Equipment that supplies the feeder is located?
If detached when was it built?

Has anybody pointed out that breakers are designed to be ON most of the
time, and once in a while kick OFF? and Switches are designed to be turned
ON or OFF a lot? Simple thought process suggests that abusing a breaker
to use it as a switch is going to have some long term, unexpected
consequence. Like not turn ON when you want, or not kick OFF when you
want.

Just be sure the breaker is marked SWD. Then it is listed for
Switching Duty.
Most small breakers are these days.

In my former church, the breakers were used to turn on and off the
lights in the church, built in 1984. They were not, iirc, rated for
switching duty. After a few years, many started getting hot to the
touch. They were replaced with SWD. And, in time, they started failing
the same way. There were 13 such switches each controlling 2 light
fixtures. I always wanted to put relays downstream to control the
lights. There were about 3 or 4 different lighting patterns used
depending on the building use, but it wouldn't be difficult to have
groups of relays doing the job. Never did it as I moved. In another
commercial building I specified SWD breakers to control TV studio lights
and the powers to be, put in a breaker box and a separate switch box
because, as they told me, breakers used as switches make for bad
breakers. This was in about 2001.