“This measurement shall not include the conductors inside an enclosure, cabinet, or junction box.” Does any one have any thoughts as to interpretation? If one were to perform a service upgrade on a back to back style service and place a meter main load center outside the home and removed the old enclosure install a new splice point To send the branch circuits outside would one count this measurement if we’re greater than 6ft? Or does the language permit no AFCI protection?
This is a easy one. If you have two cabinets and they are separated by say 6 feet of raceway or cable, you only count the portion from the cabinet to cabinet. Not the additional wire inside the cabinets.
This rule was mainly to allow relocation of the branch circuits to a new panelboard cabinet in the event of it needing to be moved. Those branch circuits spliced in the old cabinet, now a junction box, to the new panelboard cabinet. If the measurement from one cabinet to the other, from the edge of the cabinet, is 6' less then no AFCI required to be added. Same would go with modifying a branch circuit location as well as long as no new devices are introduced.
Anthony - The measurement is 6' regardless. If you extended branch circuits from cabinet to cabinet more than 6' then AFCI would most certainly be required on those branch circuits.