New home, Panel has combo breakers, all have the additional pigtail neutrals, except for one. (top left) The breaker looks the same as the others, but has a different model number. Does anyone know if this one also requires the pigtail?
Thx!
The difference I see in your pictures is the top/left is a plug on type neutral vs the other pigtailed type, functionally they are the same breaker, difference being plug on is type you’d connect your own neutral and the pigtail type has a neutral pre-attached.
Thx, but they both have the neutral bar that the breaker attaches to as well. Most of the time I see combination breakers with no pig tails, other times they all have them, this one is both…
New Square D panels. With or with pigtail.
Thanks for sharing.
Only difference is one is 15A other is 20A.
But there are (7) 15 amp breakers with pigtails, and 7 20 amp with pigtails… So is the missing pig tail a problem?
I guess the question I should be asking is what does the pigtail really do? because the breakers all connect to the neutral bus as well, and I believe the breaker neutral bus and the other neutral terminal bus connect to each other anyways
I typically see the pigtails used when the clip-on is not making good connection. The pigtails is a supplement in this case.
Did you check that the one with trips with the test button or was this an occupied home?
It was occupied, 11th month warranty
Gotcha. I would be interested to know from one of the expert electricians on here, if there is a technical reasoning for the pigtails though.
Did you look up the model number to verify its installation?
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I tried, it just brings up all the ads of where to buy them, I didn’t spend too much time though…
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The CB without the pigtail is a QO115PDF. That one does not have a pigtail because the neutral is a plugin connection directly on the neutral bus. Only the load neutral is connected to the CB.
QO-type
115- single pole,15 amp
PDF- plugin neutral, dual fiction AFCI/GFCI
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Thanks for your expertise, Rob!
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Thanks Robert! So do the other ones with the
Pig tail NOT attach directly to bus?
They are the exact same size and appearance
That is correct. On the plugin neutral type they’ve eliminated the pigtail since the neutral snaps onto the bus.
Newer breakers have a plug on neutral connection that has a metal clip that attaches directly on a neutral bus bar. I’ve seen it with Eaton and Square D, both are common on new construction where I am at.
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The older AFCI breakers with the pigtails still have to connect to the neutral bus bar. The pigtails are connected to the neutral bus bar(the one with the holes) at the bottom of the panel. If you look closely, the long metal bar(no holes) that is used for the Newer AFCIs to plug/clip on to, is actually an extension from the old style neutral/ground bus bars with the holes at the bottom of the panel. If you trace it, you will see it is connected. I’ve only seen this “different” type neutral bus bar for square D though.
On an Eaton panel, the neutral bus bar with the holes and screws just extends almost the full length of the panel and the Eaton AFCI breakers clip directly onto that type of bus bar, with no change in bus bar size or design.
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The pigtail is for the older style panels built without the plug on neutral . The pigtail is not a supplemental connection. That style breaker simply clips on to hold the breaker in place. It does not provide a neutral connection through the mounting foot.
Plug on neutral type does not need a pigtail because it plugs directly onto a metal strip that is connected to the neutral bar.
Hi there - I recently called out an AFCI breaker not connected to the neutral bus bar. I did refer to the common pig tail and since it was on a 11th month inspection required “further evaluation” rather than replacement to allow for my ignorance. This Eaton breaker didn’t seem to be connected to bus bar but maybe it is. Was I mistaken? Thanks
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