From talking to our customers over the years, there seems to be some confusion as to how exactly you can tell what Square D I-Line breakers can fit into a specific I-Line panelboard.  Many times customers have ordered a breaker, only to find out that it won't fit in their panel.  After the jump, we will go into detail on how to prevent this problem.  

The above image is a photo of a Square D I-Line panelboard.  In this specific panelboard, breakers can be mounted from 15 to 1200 amps.  One main advantage of an I-Line panelboard is that it eliminates the need for a connector strap kit.  In other brands of panelboards, such as Siemens, Cutler Hammer or GE, to add a breaker to an existing panelboard is quite the chore.  With an I-Line panel, no connecting kit is needed, which greatly reduces the labor time needed for the job.  Any I-Line breaker can be mounted with a simple flat head screw driver, or in the case of an M frame breaker, a screwdrive and an allen wrench.

Each I-Line panel has different rows available to fasten down the mounting bracket of the breaker.  If your panelboard does not have all four rows, you are not able to install the larger frame breakers.  For example, if you were to look in your panel and only see 2 rows of mounting holes, the biggest breaker you could add in your panel would be a K Frame, which goes up to 250 amps.  Some customers call us and think that they can put a 400 amp LC36400 breaker in their panelboard that only has one row of mounting holes.  Each panel is different.  For example a 225 amp, 240V rated panel is not going to have more than one row of mounting holes.  The biggest breaker that could fit in a panel like this would be a Q23225, 225 amp breaker.

Hopefully this helps clarify the way that you can tell if a certain I-Line breaker will fit in your panelboard.  If you have any questions, Contact Us or take a look at our Square D Circuit Breakers.