ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Photos for General Discussion Split Buss Panel

Steve:
The 6-switch is/has been used to avoid installing and paying for a 'main'. It's always a dollar decission, and sometimes it catches up with the penny wise owners. Now, I'm talking comm/ind not resi.

6 switches, 6 meters, and gee...here comes a sub-divided space, and where is the meter going? Or how about a office bldg with....seven (7) meters, at least seven switches? OK, now they need a main! That's one unhappy owner. How dis they get #7?? No clue, no paper trail, but it is a POCO meter.

It comes back to haunt in the 'large' whse bldgs that are being sub-divided also.

Better is the small strip center, 6 meters, 6-200 amp mains in a meter stack, and here comes a tenant that needs 400 amps. Design bo-bo, or cost factor??

Not sure why one would want a split buss. I've never seen one. Whats the advantages?

Walrus, it was all about the price. With only 2P60 amp mains for the sub-section(s), these panels were cheap. Many of them were sold "naked", meaning that the sub-section main breakers were field-provided and installed. A molded-case 200 amp breaker easily added a hundred bucks to the cost of the panel. In new home construction, these were mighty popular.

They were also very popular in total-electric homes. I'm not so sure as to why, but I guess that the pole spaces in the main section allowed for higher-amperage breakers than most of today's main breaker panels. It isn't uncommon to have up to 100 amp breakers for electric furnaces. My main breaker panel has an 80 amp breaker for the furnace and it just doesn't "look" right for some reason.

Thanks guys for more info and that what I been wonding but I did have a hunch but I was not sure due the set up like that.

Merci,Marc