Hey all. I am replacing a double pole breaker in my panel, It's a Cutler Hammer ch 20 amp. By the breakers lugs there are stickers. By one lug it says common trip. And the other sticker by the other lug just has the breaker ratings. Would the common trip be the black wire in the 240 circuit? And why would there be a common trip side of the breaker shouldn't both legs be equally protected.
Would the common trip be the black wire in the 240 circuit? And why would there be a common trip side of the breaker shouldn't both legs be equally protected.
"Common trip" simply means that either breaker tripping will open both conductors, i.e. both "legs" via a handle that ties both handles together. Color has nothing to do with it! In a 240V circuit breaker, both poles are designed to open simultaneously. If not (i.e. if only one pole opened, the other would remain closed presenting a life and/or fire hazard).
Ahh! Being it is a doublepole they trip simultaneously as needed in a mwbc. So by them saying common trip they mean both trip at once because of the handle ties. I thought maybe it had to do with which wire (Black, White) goes to a certain lug which did not make sense cause both sides of the breaker are identical. What threw me off was the word Common. Makes sense now. Thanks
CH probably should not have placed the lable "common trip" next to one of the lugs.
When in doubt, you can always go to the web site and look at the specs.
Meaning that it tripping would become very common.
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