Inverting electrical panel 180 degrees?

Aug 28, 2009 26 Replies

I don't recall ever seeing that legend on a piece of electrical service equipment. IME, instructions placed on such equipment are there for important reasons, typically the prevention of fire and/or electrocution hazards. Perhaps your experience differs.

Doesn't change the fact that it's a Code violation to install any piece of electrical equipment contrary to instructions.

So if the customer wants you to violate Code just to make it look nice, you go along with that?

In a typical consumer product, that's true. Electric service equipment is not a typical consumer product.

Of course not. Nice straw man, though.

You're getting rather far afield from the original topic. In case you've forgotten, that was installing service equipment in accordance with the manufacturer's installation instructions -- instructions which typically don't say anything at all about procedures for servicing branch circuits.

All of which is completely irrelevant to the question of whether the installer should follow, or ignore, the installation instructions.

It's a Code violation both in theory and in practice.

AFAIK, it's not a Code violation to do so.

Another straw man. Not a very good one, either.

Thank you -- that's exactly what I've been saying.

an

Geeze, I just wanted to understand why. For the record I mounted it the way it said to, upside down.

wrote: [...]

Google "no user serviceable parts inside" =3D 314,000 hits.Within arm's reach, it's on my telephone. It's on my monitor. It's on my printer. It's bullshit. I fix this stuff all the time.

[...]

And how many of those are on electrical service equipment?

But *not* on electrical service equipment.

Doesn't change the fact that it violates the electrical code to alter a piece of service equipment in a manner that was not specified by the manufacturer and listed for that purpose.

Ignoring all the arguments about code violations etc, The Square-D panel in my (UK) workshop is mounted the normal way up (e.g. writing all the right way up) and the isolator is at the bottom! That panel is fed from the top :-)

Mark Rand RTFM

My panel in the house is mounted exactly opposite. Bottom fed, main breaker at the top. It, too, is Square D (not the Homeline. It's a QO type). I did the wiring. The main feed takes a bit of the room, but there's still enough left for the circuits to be wired.

Harold

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