Paneltronics Distribution panels...good?

[rgleason]

Originally Posted by er9

was wondering if anyone had any experience with the quality of their panels. they look like a top notch company and have some really nice pre-wired panels. like to try and get some feedback first though before purchasing anything from them.

We purchased a custom Paneltronics DC Panel in 1993, planning for many extra breakers, now we have just one free breaker!



The panel has been excellent for all these years. We did get a white panel and were told the color would change an become off-white and it has done exactly that, we are fine with the color, but you may want black.

[Singularity]

Apologies to OP for this soapbox presentation, just adding this for context regarding protection on circuits.

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

...(which edition? That page doesn't match up in my 3rd edition copy)...
A lot of this is more personal preference than better/worse, as long as the usual standards and rules are always adhered to.....

-Agreed horses for courses.

-I'd still be bitchy/anal-retentive about what tolerance is required to protect the device. If the device mfg calls for 2A protection and I only have a 5A breaker, I'm not comfortable. Agreed, as you said, though, that something that wants 4A protection is most likely to trip a 5A breaker/fuse if it shorts.

I cited Calder's 4th edition previously--notably my earlier edition book burned up, along with most of my boat library and years of work on computers, in an electrical fire a couple years ago where the guy who did the wiring was a seasoned and gray-haired owner of an established bricks and mortar repair business.

Calder calls out a misconception that the OPD should be sized to the current rating of the device (not so much as the overcurrent rating of the device). I suggest that the wording starts out too firmly emphasizing the "the OPD protects the wire, dummy" but then later says, "oh by the way, if the only thing on the circuit is a small device, you're gonna have to add an inline fuse, or a smaller breaker [or fuse] upstream." Reading previous threads on this subject people recite Calder's "dummy" part and neglect to recite Calder's latter "but you're gonna need an inline fuse at times" point.
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Citing Calder here, 4th edition p237:
What size fuse or circuit breaker? There is a popular misconception that fuses and circuit breakers (overcurrent protection devices--OPD) should be sized according to the current rating (amperage) of the equipment on a circuit. This line of thinking misunderstands the purpose of the overcurrent device, which is to prevent the wiring in the circuit from melting down in the event of a short circuit. Since the most heat in any circuit will be developed by the section of wiring with the highest resistance (the smallest wire), for any given circuit, an overcurrent device is used to protect the smallest wire in the circuit.
For example, if a GPS, which draws minimal current, is hooked into a circuit wired with 12-guages (3mm^2) cable, the overcurrent device should be rated to protect the wire from melting down, not the GPS. Something on the order of a 20 amp fuse or breaker will do fine. Separate protection (generally a fuse, probably as low as 1 amp) will be needed for the GP or any other equipment on the circuit.
Having said this, if a circuit breaker in a distribution panel protect a circuit to a single load, and the protection required by the load is less than that required by the cables, the breaker can always be sized to protect the load, down to about 5 amps, which is typically the smallest breaker available.

[rgleason]

For the few breakers that are too large such as GPS, I have simply put an inline smaller fuse that is carefully and clearly labeled. I have perhaps 3 of these. It's not rocket science.

[er9]

Originally Posted by rgleason

We purchased a custom Paneltronics DC Panel in 1993, planning for many extra breakers, now we have just one free breaker!

The panel has been excellent for all these years. We did get a white panel and were told the color would change an become off-white and it has done exactly that, we are fine with the color, but you may want black.

cool good to know. i think im going to go with them for my panels.

[er9]

Originally Posted by Singularity

Apologies to OP for this soapbox presentation, just adding this for context regarding protection on circuits.

no worries...im learning. good stuff.