Breakers Side by Side

[gbeichho]

I have a sub-panel with 8 breaker slots in it:

1. 120V 0
2. 120V 0
3. 120V 180
4. 120V 180
5. 120V 180
6. 120V 180
7. 120V 0
8. 120V 0

I have 2 240V appliances I want to run off this panel and thus the DP breaker must go in slots 2,3 and 6,7. Now I also am running a 3 wire cable to power 2 circuits (not a split recepticle).

From what I understand, these two breakers do NOT need to be mechanically tied together since it's not powering a split recepticle, but it says they must be adjacent to ensure that the two hot wires are actually serviced by the 2 different hot wires so the neutral doesn't get overloaded.

As you can see above, there are no other adjacent slots that will supply both hot wires. However, I can accomplish the same thing by putting 1 breaker (Black) in slot 1 and one breaker (Red) in slot 4.

Does this break code (I'm in Canada, but I'm curious about the US rules too).

Thanks,

George

[Homer]

As you have already stated, any 240V appliance needs either a double-pole breaker or two single-pole breakers with handles tied together.

For multiwire branch circuits there are different rules.

In either Canada or the US, as long as each device on the multiwire circuit connects to only one HOT (no common yoke), there is no requirement that the breakers be double-pole or tied together. They don't even need to be adjacent to each other. They only need to be on opposite legs of the service to provide 240V.

CEC 14-010 and CEC 14-302; NEC 210.4(B) and NEC 240.16(A)

On this issue there is amazing harmony between the two jurisdictions.

So you can do as you suggest with a breaker in slots 1 and 4. Just verify that you really do have 240V between them.

Some will argue that this creates a hazard for the poor fool who blindly rearranges the breakers at a future date to make room for something, but it is permitted.

Homer

[gbeichho]

Good news and it makes sense. I am certain there are no 240V appliances on that circuit. It's servicing 2 distinct sets of 15A recepticle circuits.

With the panel off the box, it's very clear that there is 240V between the 1 and 4. That's how I figured out I might have a problem. I had originally assumed that slot 4/5 would have been a 240V circuit but by looking at it, it was clearly not.

Thanks,

George