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Can a two phase 150 amp breaker work for single phase 220v power supply?

In the Philippines the power is single phase 220v 60cy. I have bought a 2 phase150a main breaker and distribution panel, for my new house. Can I jump the sides together to create single phase panel?. Does the supply have to be jumped first or just the output side of breaker? Also does the neutral connect to ground at the panel? Since it is just a two wire supply(220v and ground)

Update:

If I connect the supply to only one side/input of the 150a breaker and jump the two bus bars then I have a safe 150a panel?

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  • 9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    It sounds to me like you have a split phase panel instead of a 2 phase panel.

    If your pane has two busses to which breakers are attached, you have a split phase panel

    The panel should also have a neutral bus bar and a ground bus bar with means of attaching wires to the two.

    To use this type panel with a single phase service , connect the hot wire to both sides of the main circuit breaker, and the other wire to the neutral bus bar. Be advised that your 150 amp circuit breaker will in fact be a 300 a breaker, if both busses in your panel share the load. This means you can carry 150 amps in each of the main breaker connections before the breaker trips.

    In the USA, the neutral in connected to the ground in the panel. Check your local code to determine if this is the practice where you live.

    TexMav

    Source(s): Retired electrical engineer
  • 9 years ago

    As far as I know there are only single phase and three phase connection. Neutral line should not be connected to earth or ground.. Usually a single phase has 3 wires, 1 earth or groung, 2 line & 3 is the neutral. But in phillippines I believe it's earth, line 1 & line 2, unless you can send me a picture of the breaker I can help u. Where do u get the breaker? Is it from Philippines as well?

  • 9 years ago

    There is no such thing as two phase power, I think you mean split phase.

    In theory you can connect the two phases together, but the question is, can you do it safely and within your wire code. Because if you do it wrong, and at some point have a fire, your insurance company will not cover you.

    Check your local wire code or contact a professional electrician.

    Or take the panel back and get the correct one. If single phase power is common, then the electrical parts store should have the correct panel.

  • 9 years ago

    Likely the breaker will turn on your power, but it may not turn it off if you have a fault = fire hazard. With both breakers in parallel, a fault current exceeding 300 amps is necessary to trip the breaker. Likely your new house is not wired for 300 amps. If you ask the local electrical code people refer to the breaker as split phase, not two phase. Neil

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  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    You may use a (2 phase) unit on a single phase supply.

    You shouldn't need to do anything, just connect your circuits Live & N to each mcb of your unit.

    I assume your consumer unit is pre-wired on the the power side to the mcb's.

    Any two phases of a three phase supply is considered to be single phase.

    So what you may have is probably a double pole consumer unit.

    We do not, in the UK use 2 phase, or split phase as it may be known in the USA, so I'm not really sure as to the arrangement of the unit.

    It really depends on what type of supply you have. In the UK we have an earthed, separate neutral conductor, which means we can have single pole mcb's (obviously cheaper than double pole)

    If you have double pole mcb's, whether for use on two phases or phase and neutral, it dose not matter.

    I spent 40 years of my working life on ships that used TWO phases for single phase power and lighting.

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