Electrician in the Central NY AREA

[WA1GFZ]

Bud, The GE panel 200 amp breaker is pretty big so didn't think you could find a 100 amp unit to fit. That would be the way to go though since all you would need to do is run 200 amp wire from the new meter socket. $4K to $5K would motivate me to want to do as much as the job I can then reward myself with a toy.

[W1UJR]

Even Screw In Breakers Get The Blues

After Gary's post, what are the chances, go figure...

Last Friday when exiting my office I noticed that the site lights were not on.
I opened the door to the utility room and got a whiff of something nasty, something hot and burning.

This is a very robust panel, 800 amp commercial service, two 400 amp breakers feeding each leg.
Noted that the 40 amp breaker for the lights was off, turned it on and heard a "sizzling" noise.
Removed the panel covers, quite on chore, and found the cause, the breaker was loose on the bus feed, discolored and melted.
The leg off the breaker was blued from heat, you can see the offending breaker on the lower set of three, note the discolored metal mounting tab.
Photos attached.

Electrician came early this morning, inspected the problem, was suitably impressed.
Suggested we replace the bus feed for that set of breakers, and then make certain that all of the hardware is tight and secure.
No up-selling required, wow!

So you see, even screw in breakers get the "blues".

[W1RKW]

When you load up the load center with breakers stack them so that the biggest current handlers are closest to the main or have the shortest buss length and are balanced on both sides.

I had a situation years ago in my wifes condo where some big breakers were below some of the lighter breakers.  Under heavy current demand weird things began to happen with various stuff in the house.  I happened to have a blank in the panel that was open and could see a buss bar glowing a dull red between the offending circuit and main. The load center had the good ole smell of heat emanating from it.  Not a pleasant situation to say the least.  A simple rearrangement of the breakers to balance out the busses fixed the problem.

[KA8WTK]

Suggested we replace the bus feed for that set of breakers, and then make cerain that all of the hardware is tight and secure.

That is one of the yearly chores at the plant including an IR scan looking for hot spots before the shut down when they check the hardware.

[Bill, KD0HG]

When you load up the load center with breakers stack them so that the biggest current handlers are closest to the main or have the shortest buss length and are balanced on both sides.

I had a situation years ago in my wifes condo where some big breakers were below some of the lighter breakers.  Under heavy current demand weird things began to happen with various stuff in the house.  I happened to have a blank in the panel that was open and could see a buss bar glowing a dull red between the offending circuit and main. The load center had the good ole smell of heat emanating from it.  Not a pleasant situation to say the least.  A simple rearrangement of the breakers to balance out the busses fixed the problem.

EXCELLENT suggestion.

Theoretically, with perfect load balance, the current and and hence any voltage drop in the neutral conductor would be zero.

It's not a bad idea to put some Penetrox, Noalox or Cramolin on the contact fingers of circuit breakers, too. Penetrox and Noalox contain Zinc particles, which act as sacrificial material preventing corrosion in AL-AL and AL-CU electrical connections. They also bite through aluminum oxide.

-Bill

[WA1GFZ]

When I connected the mains in my panel I coated the wire even though it was copper then planned coating breaker contacts but changed my mind when the mains dripped the goo. It looked like it would have made a mess.
I didn't want that goo going inside the breakers
Having electric heat and many GFI breakers. The heat breakers are on the left because they don't need a neutral and GFI on the right near the neutral buss so I could attach the short white wire coming out of the GFI breaker.
All the big loads are near the top and all heat circuits are 20 amps. The only #14 run in the house is the smoke alarms. Everything else is at least #12.
I guess it is a good idea to inspect the innards of the breaker panel once in a while.

[W2INR]

Well I have replaced the old 100 amp load center with a new 200 amp center. We are still on a 100 amp service drop but that will be replaced in the spring when the weather allows trenching to the house.

Thanks to Joe WN2FQD, Buddly WD8BIL and Bill KA8WTK for their support and help with this project.

G

[WA1GFZ]

That's great, the worst part is done.