Friend:
Thanks for the responses. They have all been valid on offered good
options. There is one possible solution that will be easier to implement
and is worth a brief description here:
Breakers have an AIC (Ampere Interrupting Capacity). This is a
quantification of how much fault current a breaker can handle before it
explodes (in lay terms). Residential AC power distribution drops have a
finite ampacity under short circuit capability. Sure, you drop a wrench
across a bus expect a lot of amps to flow until your main opens. A higher
amperage commercial service can deliver more instantaneous amps, so a
breaker with a higher AIC is required in commercial applications. Typical
values are 10,000, 22,000 and 65,000. The lower values are found on garden
variety breakers.
I have learned that the higher AIC breakers also have a higher
"instantaneous trip" value. A Siemens 2 pole 100 amp breaker with a10,000
AIC rating has a 600-900 amps instantaneous rating. The same breaker with
a 22,000 AIC rating has a rating of rating of 1,000 -1,2000 instantaneous amps.
I am thinking that the higher instantaneous rating my prevent nuisance
trips. My supplier has asked Siemens to comment but we receive a very
non-committal answer. My supplier has offered to sell me breakers with the
higher AIC and accept them back if they don't solve the problem. That is
the direction and I will report back.
Thanks again. I hope this exchange was beneficial for many of you and
prevents some of you from repeating my mistakes.
William Miller
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