2 – 100AMP Mains on one clamp?

[aroundhere]

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hey! So I have a 200 AMP system with 2 100AMP mains. They are super tight and run along side one another.

as far as mains go, is it ok to clamp them both together with a single 200AMP clamp?

I couldn’t get the two mains pulled apart and obviously didn’t want to try to hard without having my electric shut off by the electric company first.

I went ahead and clamped them on one and seems to be ok, but will need to wait for a few days of data and compare it to what the electric company is showing as far as usage.

does anyone know if this is possible and will I get accurate results?

will try and attach a photo or two if I can.

thanks

[aroundhere]

[aroundhere]

[djwakelee]

Unfortunately you cannot do what you detailed for the incoming two hot legs – which are two different phases.  By putting both hot phases under the same clamp, you will subtract one from the other.  When the two 120V phases are drawing the same power (say 500W on each), you will see a reading of 0W instead of 1000W.  If the phases draw an unbalanced current, you will see the difference only – not the total.

Your options would be to not use the mains clamps (only monitor the circuits you want and the balance), or get the mains wires separated and the two clamps installed – one on each hot leg phase.

Also, I believe all your clamps are installed backwards.  For the mains, you want the arrow on the clamps pointing to the panel, and all the others you want the arrow pointing away from the panel.

And nice job with the sharpie – Emporia could have done a better job with the channel labeling.

 

• This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by djwakelee.

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