ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Photos for General Discussion A Few Panels

Celtic, click on the photos and you get a big version.

Bob

Iwire...is the pix with the reducer #3? (top/bottom fed) Right next to the feeder?

Well will you look at that...it even has a magnifing glass!
Now I can see it all...BTW, did you torque the terminations and CBs?

Bob,
That looks like a beautiful installation but it has left me a little curious. Back in the day when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and I wired my last new panel, I would trim my conductors so they could reach the last breaker slot on their side of the panel. Then I would dress it back on itself and come in at a right angle as you have. That gave me a little flexibility if we wanted to put a high ampacity ckt in closer to the main lugs later. Is that still a common practice or is it frowned upon nowadays?
Joe

Joe It's just a personal thing with me I don't usually leave slack.

The company I work for is a stickler for color coding so shifting circuits can be problematic particularly when I usually run multiwire branch circuits.

Moving circuits also messes up the J-box labeling we do.

That aside I will be surprised if you can provide any good reason to place larger loads near the lug other than personal preference.

The difference of a few inches of busbar seems insignificant.

[This message has been edited by iwire (edited 01-03-2006).]

Nice work Bob.



I don't leave slack either although we have guys who do. Just a matter of preference I guess.

Anyways Bob, you do pretty good for a "Hack Wannabe" (that is an inside joke)

Roger

Thank you.

Just wait till I am eligible for my license.

That's arrogant hack wannabe, get it right.

Speaking of right, good lookin' panels, Bob.

(Although, were I to nit pick, I would say you should pick either curved or straight; having the left bank elegantly curved and the right side hung up straight in the zip ties, tsk tsk. )

I have to say, I'm a little surprised at the lack of loops in the feeders, but I don't think my panels could compare, so I'll just keep my mouth shut.

But now I'll definutely have to burn your eyes with some of my eyesores.

Bob, in Pics #1 & #2 you used bond bushings at your service feeders and in Pic #3 a plastic bushing.

Doesen't the egc have to run continious through the bond bushing to the Gnd bar?
BTW it is a clean little job.

Rob

I was told to do it this way when I was an apprentice, but if you think about it, the whole bus has the same ampacity, right?

What good does it do to cluster the heavy loads in one place? If you have two large loads on the same stab, doesn't that double the heating on that particular stab? (This is more of a problem with stab-in breakers than with the NQOD shown here.) Furthermore, you are doubling the heating near the main lugs, one more place where resistance is possible. Why do this?

I say, run the heavy loads down one side of the panel (say, the left side), and the light loads down the other, or distribute the load in some other way.

I also question the value of perfectly-squared conductors. I've seen too many installers who will commit any atrocity as long as it's outside a panel, but obsess over perfect neatness inside. I do usually leave a small service loop, but if you overdo it, you get an unruly mess of wire.

I'd much rather see nice conduit work than perfectly-formed wires inside the panel.

My major pet peeve is the abuse of stair-step neutrals. Some installers use up the most accessible lugs first, leaving the service guy to thread wires and screwdrivers through tiny gaps.


Good thinking! This would not have occured to me, although I have certainly drilled into quite a few panels!

Nice work, Bob!

Looks good Bob!

Over here in Britain it's kind of an unwritten convention to start with the high-power circuits next to the main and then gradually work down the bus ending with the 5 or 6A lighting circuits at the far end.

There's never been any requirement to do it that way though.