ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Proprietary Rights ?

"Interesting you say it would be great if everything was standardised and then you say "American version"
What's wrong with using the same DIN rail the rest of the world uses?"

I think what was meant was "an American listing for DIN" not necessarily a US specific version

Yes, EU breakers, RCD devices etc. do all fit in the DIN rail ok, but that does not necessarily make them 'interchangeable'. I bought an ABB split consumer unit C/W some prefitted breakers and spare spaces at the local brico- [ pics on the way to another thread; see Wiring Horrors, Violation Forum]. The brico now only stocked LeGrande stuff, so I bought Legrande breakers for the extras I required. I also junked some of the ABB units, as they were cartridge fused, in favor of LeGrande units.
The actual internal heights at the busses varied by about 3/16", making the bus connections across the hots and neutrals a nightmare- the Legrande bus copper 'legs' I bought were too short for the ABB units. Luckily, the brico still had some spare ABB bus bars in stock to resolve the problem & they fitted the LeGrande units ok for the spans. Also, very slight variations in DIN rail attachment clip positions between makers, viz the panel apertures, made it impossible to get a neat alignment- yes, they all fitted but not absolutely parallel as I would have liked.

Alan

Yep, the DIN rail is the norm in modern British panels, but there are still compatibility issues, even between different models of the same brand.

If you don't match up the breakers and the main switch (or RCD) for example, you can find that although all the units fit the rail perfectly, the heights of the terminals don't always align, so you can fit them to the busbar.

Hey NJwirenut, I am an employee of the federal government working at a VA Hospital here in Denver and I bust my but every day for our Vets.

Having visited a relative in France, and ending up fault finding a dodgy lighting circuit which was tripping the RCD, I was impressed with their double pole MCBs, which seemed to be the norm.
Makes fault finding so more easier than with the UK single pole ones !
What do other countries use?

Which would put you squarely in the category of "worker" as opposed to "in government". They might be your employer, but you aren't making policy, right?

My comment was more directed at the elected and appointed officials who eat from the public trough while contributing nothing to the society at large. Like the people who "support the troops" by cutting the VA budget, for instance....