| I am installing a computer equipment rack in my home office. The Power | strip (PDU) that I want to use is the Geist VRTDN200-10310TL. It | terminates in a NEMA L5-30P. The specs on the PDU are 30 Amps, 125V, | 3750 Watts, 2 x 15 Amp circuits, 2 15 Amp internal circuit breakers, | 10 duplex recepticles per circuit (total of 20). | | Here is a link to the PDU's specs: | |
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| | The question is: do I need to install a 2 pole 30 Amp breaker or a | single pole 30 Amp circuit? The specs on the PDU are 125V but the | cable is 10/3 and the connector is L5-30P. Isn't that a 2 pole | configuration? If I need a single pole configuration, how do I wire | the L5-30R?
A NEMA L5-30P is a plug for a SINGLE POLE 125[1] volt 30 amp circuit. So your breaker would be ONE pole 30 amp, and the wiring would be a AWG 10 or larger (smaller number). If wired in conduit or cabled in metallic, the wires will have colors green, black, and white. If in non-mettalic cable, the ground wire will most likely be bare instead of green.
The L5-30R will have connections for ground (connect with the green or bare wire), hot/live (connect with the black wire), and neutral (connect with the white wire).
The designation "10/3" is an example of where someone counts the ground. This is a common source of ambiguity. Find out what insulation colors those wires have to tell you the circuit type.
If wiring in metallic conduit/cable, it might be wise to go with an "isolated ground" circuit. To do this you need a receptacle that has a specific isolated ground capability (no connection between the ground pin and the frame). The wires will include a 2nd ground wire colored with a green/yellow stripe. This allows grounding the frame and metal conduit separately from the receptacle ground pin (but they still meet at the circuit source in the breaker box).