Astra Electrical Technologies, LLC; Review Of The Leviton Load Center

Leviton Load center review

The following is an unsolicited thorough review provided by
Owner/Master Electrician, Erick Rascon
Astra Electrical Technologies, LLC,
P.O. Box 1930
Carbondale, Colorado 81623

Rough:

LP820-MC 200A main meter with feed-thru lugs

**Pros: Nicely packaged with recyclable cardboard, well packaged and protected, unlike some competitor (Square D)  gear that arrives dented. A great characteristic I noticed right away, the bottom and back knock-outs are perfectly and tightly punched, easy to pry out and remove without taking the next sizes up in the process, like the competitors knock outs (Siemens is notorious for this).

**Cons: the front access cover has no hinges, increasing the chance of losing the cover, especially for homeowner/end-user. Also, the included feed-thru neutral lug is undersized, it should match the size/rating of the “hot” (phase a and b) feed thru lugs. If the meter enclosure is rated for 200A, has a 200A breaker the lugs should be sized accordingly, rather than having to order the correct size lug as an optional accessory. 

**Conclusion: overall, I think it is a good “all in-one” enclosure, looks great, clean and very well made, ample room for wiring, knock-outs are true and precise. The only inconvenient is the undersized neutral lug, would like to see properly sized lugs in the future to avoid ordering additional parts that other competitors include, simplifying installation and saving time.

LP420-MB and LP312-MB indoor load centers with main breakers (200A and 125A respectively)

**Pros: Nicely packaged and protected with recyclable cardboard. Right out of the box the load center feels sturdy, well made and looks great with its distinctive white finish, it is a breeze to install in a standard 14.5” stud bay. Knock outs are nicely punched, very solid yet very easy to remove with a screwdriver and a hammer, no need to twist to remove (like Square D and Siemens), the white finish doesn’t scratch/chips out like other competitors’ load centers. A greatly appreciated (and NEC required) feature is the main breaker lug covers, besides providing protection, it gives the installation a nice finished look. One of my favorite feature is the way the wires, all the wires, are lug-terminated with color-identified square-head screws that simplify torquing. There’s even more spaces to connect neutrals in the neutral bar is so desired. Connecting and torquing the connections during the installation phase of the job makes the final breaker installation simple and easy, even by the most inexperienced apprentice on his first day as an electrician, simply snap-in the breaker and done!. A few possibly overlooked yet great features is the engraved breaker numbers on the load center, the raised zip-tie attachments on the sides and the slotted mounting holes on the sides, no need to drill/knock out screw holes, and to top it off, the whole load center can be easily pulled out or pushed in to make it perfectly flush with the drywall!

**Cons: (very insignificant) An additional ground bar should be included with the 42-space load center to accommodate more ground wires to avoid double-lugging (I rather keep one wire per lug/screw), this is just a minor inconvenience that can be easily fixed by ordering an additional ground bar, the holes are even tapped for it! Siemens and Square D also have the same inconvenience. Another minor inconvenience is the reduced gutter space on the sides, but the way the wires are lug terminated greatly overcomes this “inconvenience”.

**Conclusion: In my opinion, this is a great load center, beats all others in quality, ease of install, looks and features, I would definitely buy again.

As an quality-oriented electrical contractor with 20 years in the electrical career, I only use and provide quality products,  I think the Leviton load centers beat all other competitors hands down. I have not tested the components with power yet,( I was skeptical to spec. Leviton load centers on our residential projects), but being a  Leviton product (my first choice for receptacles, switches, etc) I am sure it will not disappoint. So far, I have gotten good comments on how good the load centers look  from other tradesmen (plumbers, HVAC, etc) in the jobsite. I’m sure the owners/end-users will have great comments as well once the house is finished and the breakers and covers are installed. I haven’t tested the breakers, but from what I have seen they will not disappoint and most likely exceed my expectations. I will keep you updated as the job advances. See pictures!

TRIM:

I installed the following branch circuit breaker types in different amperages: standard/AFCI/GFCI/dual function/EPD. The breakers have been powered since early June and working under normal living conditions since late August, here’s my short-term review, so far so good!

Upon receiving the breakers, I noticed they’re individually packaged in nicely labeled paperboard boxes, they’re also slightly larger than most branch circuit breakers. Right out of the box the breakers feel heavy, nicely assembled and the plastic seems to be of very good quality. The handle is easy to operate yet feels solid and precise, the display window shows the breaker status (red tripped, green on), and the status LEDs (AFCI/GFCI/DF/EPD) gives you the tripping cause at a glance, overall, it seems to be very-well made with both the installer and end-user in mind, aside the most important characteristics of quality and performance, the breakers just look great like some sort of fancy high-tech gadget.

When it comes to installing them, if the load center has been already “made-up” and all the wires are connected and properly torqued to the lugs, it can be done in mere minutes by even an inexperienced apprentice on his/her first day as such. Installing is a simple as snapping them in, the hooks and bus clamp feel solid when the breakers are installed, no tools needed, and no wires to connect, really speeds up the trimming process, of course, the correct breaker type/amperage has to be matched to the load circuit. 

The breakers were also tested under different situations, we overloaded a 120V 20A circuit on purpose, at the same time we were reading the amperage, when the load reached between 19.8 and 20.5 amps it tripped right away, a few times in a row, so we know it protects against overloads. On a 120V 15A breaker we also created a couple short circuits (hot to neutral/hot to ground) and the breaker tripped in no time, there was no buzzing and/or delay prior to tripping, it was instant. Once the faults were cleared, the breaker handle resets nicely, precise, without getting stuck or any other issues. We also did an arc fault (series and parallel)  test and a ground fault test, the breakers tripped right away, a really nice feature on the dual function, GFCI and AFCI breakers is the status LED and the tripping cause, unlike some other competitors’ breakers with no diagnostics or complicated troubleshooting codes (***see square d’s complicated procedure below). Leviton breakers raise the standard by simplifying this process, as an electrician it saves a lot of troubleshooting time, as a homeowner/ end user it comes very handy if he/she needs to call an electrician, the breaker handle can be easily reset by almost anyone, very end-user friendly. 

**Pros: very easy to install with no tools once the wires are connected to the lugs, simple, intuitive LED diagnostic lights simplify troubleshooting, no non-sense codes like the competitors’ breakers. Very well assembled, solid yet easy to operate. Very aesthetically pleasing, nice white modern finish, very installer and end-user friendly and “looks so damn good” once trimmed.

**Cons: (very minor), larger than most breakers, although this is a very insignificant inconvenience, not readily available (locally), higher cost than the competitors’ but the features make it worth it, DF, AFCI and GFCI give off heat when powered, according to Leviton tech support the internal electronics produce heat, which is very normal, may be a good idea to make note of it on instruction/installation manuals. Breakers are turned on/reset towards the opposite side of other breakers, it takes some learning, but not really an inconvenience.

Summary: 

Once the breakers are installed along with the covers, the panel looks clean, simple matches with any wall color/decor, very aesthetically pleasing, unlike the competitors industrial gray which look great in a utility area/mechanical room but not so much in living space. The LLC and breakers look good anywhere. On this particular project the owners and us decided to install in the laundry room due to its centralized, easy to get to location if a breaker needs to be reset. When the LLC was trimmed and powered, the next day I noticed that the DF,  AFCI and GFCI breakers were giving off heat, as an electrician, when I notice  a breaker that gets warm/hot that’s not usually a good sign, I immediately emailed and called the distributor and within 20 minutes I got a call from a Leviton engineer that explained me that these breakers have internal electronics that produce heat during normal operation and I had nothing to worry about, Leviton provided great technical support that answered my questions. The owners are really pleased with the looks and ease of operation of the LLC, and how it doesn’t look “intimidating like other breaker boxes” (their quote). In fact, a couple of their acquaintances and guests gave them compliments on how great the electrical panels look, unheard of on load centers, the white finish compliments the white devices, cabinetry and trim. From the beginning during the rough in process, I have also received a few compliments from other tradesmen, especially when the panels were finished and trimmed. As a quality-driven electrical contractor I have trusted and installed Leviton devices (receptacles, switches, cover plates) in most if not all of our projects, I am pleased on how well the LLC and breakers have performed and the fact that the home owners are very pleased on how well it looks, win-win situation. The electrical trim was completed in early June 2019, so far and as far as i can tell (and really hope so) the Leviton breakers will provide years of reliability, just like the Leviton devices. With no doubt and from what I have seen so far I really recommend the Leviton load centers and breakers.

Extra comments:

The breakers work great! I can trim out a panel in minutes! they trip when they have to trip and on the dual function breakers you know right away what caused it to trip (Arc, ground, overload) simplifying troubleshooting, unlike Siemens’ LED codes and Square D’s “reset, hold, wait so many seconds” procedure…try explaining it to an frustrated home owner/end user.

In fact, on this particular project the construction foreman called me once because the floor installers were trying to connect their sander and it tripped all the breakers, I asked the foreman to look at the panel, and see if there were any lights on, he answered yes! there’s a lot of AF red lights on!, I told him not to worry about it, to reset the tripped breakers and to tell the floor installers to use a good extension cord, as I assumed their extension cord and/or sander had issues.

Five minutes later he calls me and says that everything worked fine with a different extension cord. I showed up to the jobsite later that day, looked at their cord, it was all beat up, frayed and taped all over with cheap cord caps. The point is that I was able to troubleshoot he issue with the tripped breakers over the phone thanks to that feature, if it had been a different brand it could have been a little harder. Imagine how much easier it will be for a homeowner to call the electrician and tell him “my breaker tripped and there’s a GF red light on”, rather than “my breaker tripped”…very convenient for the end user and service personnel.

The owner really liked the LLC, and she told me her acquaintances that have seen the house give her compliments on how neat it looks. I couldn’t agree more. 

Erick Rascon, Owner & Master Electrician Astra Electrical Technologies, LLC