So, I came home from the supply house, and I noticed language on my BR quad breaker indicating that it does not feature common trip. Does the outer handle tie not provide common trip?
Quads come in different versions. Some are handle tied on the 2 inner positions and on the 2 outer positions for use as 2 - 2 pole breakers. Others are not tied in both locations and are meant as a 2 pole and 2 single poles.
Right. Quads always have the inner handles tied. Some of them also have the outer handles tied.
And the ones that have the outer handles tied
may, or may not, have common trip on the outside.
Most quadplexes have common-trip on the inside.
But these particular Eaton BR breakers do not. They don't have common trip anywhere.
Meanwhile, Eaton makes
other BR breakers that do have common trip on the inside. If you're in the catalog, turn to the next page.
Why on earth they bother, I do not know. After all, we're only talking about a factory guarantee of common trip. Most "non-common-trip" breakers will in fact common-trip simply due to the action of their tied handles. You just can't bank on it.
Does the quad I purchased work for two 240v circuits?
Do you need common trip?
It depends on your circuit.
- If you are powering a 240V-only appliance that does not take neutral, like a water heater or A/C unit, you do not need common trip.
- If you powering a multi-wire branch circuit that does not have any 240V loads, you do not need common trip.
- A true 120/240V split phase appliance that takes neutral, such as a dryer or range, does need common trip.
- A MWBC with 240V loads (a couple of those are being discussed this week) yes, needs common trip. (otherwise the dead phase will just get re-energized through the 240V appliance).
On a different note, I noticed I was provided a non-CTL breaker. Non-CTL breakers should be fine to use on a 12-24 panel, right?
CTL used to be a mechanical keying so it was impossible to put >42 circuits in a panel, so you couldn't get a 30-space and double-stuff it with 60 circuits. This was made Code in NEC 1966 and the rule was deemed stupid and unnecessary in NEC 2011-ish.
Typically CTL panels had a slot in the busbar where double-stuiff breakers were allowed. CTL breakers had a bar that would block insertion except in a slotted busbar.
They still needed to support pre-1966 panels. So they kept making non-CTL breakers that did not have the bar. They definitely fit pre-1966 panels and *may* fit modern CTL panels depending on the bus design.
This is going in an Eaton BR panel, right? RIGHT? (also allowed in Westinghouse, Challenger, BRyant and Cutler Hammer BR, because of design lineage. In fact Eaton BR is the only safe breaker to put in a Challenger panel; Challenger breakers are toxic firestarters akin to Federal Pacific, but the buses are fine.)
Eaton BR must never be used in HOM, GE or Murray panels. That's not a CTL notch issue, that's the shape of the bus stabs. If you "heard" that Eaton breakers go in anything,
that is Eaton's CL line of breakers, which is specifically UL-Classified for *certain* competitor panels including those.
CL. CLassified. Get it? Obviously CL breakers have a different bus clip than BR.
