Disconnect Question

Depends on the handle you get. All of the handle options on the 194E switches in that brochure are not of the type that can be defeated, because the intended use of those switches is for at-motor disconnect only. They are not supposed to be used as main panel disconnects (unless maybe the disconnect is not being used for line power). The difference is in the difference between a UL508 listed switch, as the 194E Series are, and a disconnect switch that bears a UL98 listing which allows it to be a branch circuit disconnect, which the 194E does NOT.

You can, I believe, order a 194R-HS4 handle mechanism (designed for the 194R disconnects, which CAN be used as main disconnects) and it does have a defeat mechanism on the outside. Then there is an adapter kit to be able to use that with the 194E switches, it's on the bottom of page 36. This is what you get if you order the factory built switches shown on page 31. The problem is, Main Disconnects (UL98) must now also have a means of operating the switch with the door already open without having a tool, referred to as an "NFPA 79 handle" because NFPA 79 was the first place it was required. That handle however is ONLY available in the 194R Series of switches, being that they ARE listed under UL98.

So if your OEM has built control panels where the main disconnects are being used for line power, but they used the 194E switches, they have built something that technically cannot be installed here in the US, unless you ALSO buy and install a UL98 rated disconnect ahead of it, or it is fed with a UL489 listed circuit breaker that is dedicated to that one panel and equipped with a means of locking in the Open (off) position. Even then, many AHJs will still reject it as "not suitable for the intended use".

Any decent panel builder should know all of this, it's in the UL 508A rules.
 
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Tim,

i ran across a disconnect like this several years ago and it also looked like you couldn't defeat it.

by chance we turned the handle past the on position and it released the lock mechsanism and we were able to open the door.

i have also seen them that required a small allen wrench to insert into the side the release the lock.

maybe this will work for the ones you have comming in.

regards,
james
 
Depends on the handle you get. All of the handle options on the 194E switches in that brochure are not of the type that can be defeated, because the intended use of those switches is for at-motor disconnect only. They are not supposed to be used as main panel disconnects (unless maybe the disconnect is not being used for line power). The difference is in the difference between a UL508 listed switch, as the 194E Series are, and a disconnect switch that bears a UL98 listing which allows it to be a branch circuit disconnect, which the 194E does NOT.

You can, I believe, order a 194R-HS4 handle mechanism (designed for the 194R disconnects, which CAN be used as main disconnects) and it does have a defeat mechanism on the outside. Then there is an adapter kit to be able to use that with the 194E switches, it's on the bottom of page 36. This is what you get if you order the factory built switches shown on page 31. The problem is, Main Disconnects (UL98) must now also have a means of operating the switch with the door already open without having a tool, referred to as an "NFPA 79 handle" because NFPA 79 was the first place it was required. That handle however is ONLY available in the 194R Series of switches, being that they ARE listed under UL98.

So if your OEM has built control panels where the main disconnects are being used for line power, but they used the 194E switches, they have built something that technically cannot be installed here in the US, unless you ALSO buy and install a UL98 rated disconnect ahead of it, or it is fed with a UL489 listed circuit breaker that is dedicated to that one panel and equipped with a means of locking in the Open (off) position. Even then, many AHJs will still reject it as "not suitable for the intended use".

Any decent panel builder should know all of this, it's in the UL 508A rules.

I think it's this part # 194L-HE6N-175 the Type N unit. It would be the main disconnect for the panel. Only a PLC and 2 .5 HP starters but still a panel and that would still be the main disconnect.

It would be fed by a breaker in the Centerline 2100 MCC Bucket.
 
I think it's this part # 194L-HE6N-175 the Type N unit. It would be the main disconnect for the panel. Only a PLC and 2 .5 HP starters but still a panel and that would still be the main disconnect.

It would be fed by a breaker in the Centerline 2100 MCC Bucket.

The breaker in the MCC is what may save you here, but even that is conditional.

Bulletin 194L devices are UL 508 listed, CSA 22.2 #14 certified, CE marked. They can be used as Manual Motor Controllers plus are suitable as Motor Disconnects.
Implied in that statement is that they CANNOT be used as main disconnect switches. Lot's of people fail to realize that and get it wrong.

This guide sums it up fairly well.

But I'm not sure if that 194R handle and adapter kit works with the 194L switch, it only says it works with the 194E-A... So you might be stuck not having an operating handle that can be defeated for maintenance / testing access, and you will not have the ability to operate the disconnect once the door is opened.
 
I have some panels on equipment in Route to our site that use a AB 194E disconnect on all the panels as shown on PDF page # 24 here https://www.kirbyrisk.com/woeb/datasheets/1400.pdf

The description says On-Off and I see no way to defeat them while leaving power on. When they say On-Off do they mean non-defeatable?

Those are not proper switches for the application. They're load switches, for use as field disconnects, not panel disconnects.

Besides, it looks like the 194E is a through-the-door type and thus no mechanical interlink to keep the door closed when the power is on. So it doesn't look like you'd NEED to defeat it at all, but that in of itself is a bad thing. Whoever decided to use that disconnect to protect a control panel really didn't know what they were doing.

The proper switch to use would be a 194R series.
 
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