# 480 v feed going through 120/208 panel



## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

lynnS said:


> While looking over some new construction in one of the buildings we maintain, I noticed a 480v feed entering the bottom of a 120/208 panel,
> heading to the panel next to it through a short chase. From a breaker in this panel, a feed to a transformer also went back through the 120/208 panel and out the top to feed the 480v step-down then back through a conduit to feed this 120/208 panel. 312.8 A states "permitted conductors feeding through enclosures and going to other enclosures, switches, or overcurrent devices", but not conductors going to transformers. Is this a code violation? Also, I always use grounding bushings from the panel and in/out of transformer, is this a violation also?
> thanks for your comments


Is the xfmr. enclosed? Using grounding bushings on anything isn't a violation, at least it doesn't fall under "uses not permitted".


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## RePhase277 (Feb 5, 2008)

I wouldn't do it that way, but I wouldn't particularly care if I found it like that.


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## lynnS (Mar 8, 2018)

sorry, I meant that I use the bushings, but in this installation they didn't use them.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

Sort of a weird way to do it, but I don't think I'd lose any sleep over finding such a thing. Nobody's gonna die today or tomorrow. Functionally, it's really no different than most 480 industrial control panels that have the 120 control power transformer and all the 120 controls inside the same enclosure. If I had to do this from scratch, I might puzzle more seriously on whether this is compliant or not. Since it exists, I'm not so sure I'd get too twisted up over it.


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## Wiresmith (Feb 9, 2013)

lynnS said:


> 312.8 A states "permitted conductors feeding through enclosures and going to other enclosures, switches, or overcurrent devices", but not conductors going to transformers. Is this a code violation?




2017 312.8(A) language changed slightly and i think it more clearly allows what you are describing. but 312.8(A)(3) requires a warning label for the feed through conductors


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