"Ignoramus5533" wrote in message
...
I came into possession of a few used 400-600A circuit breakers. Each
is the size of a milk jug. While researching prices on them and such
(they sell for $150-200 on ebay), I learned that some cost many
thousands of dollars new. I saw numbers from $2,500 and higher.

I am curious just what makes them so expensive. Do they have any
precious materials inside? Or what?

i

My experience in refining precious metals taught me that high amperage
contacts are usually made from a compound of silver and some other element,
often tungsten. You can expect the breakers to contain silver, but that
hardly explains the high cost, particularly when a contact is generally well
under a troy ounce in size. Cost is likely attributed to a high
degree of engineering and limited production.

That's my story, and I'm stickin' too it! g

Harold