"Robert Stinnett" wrote in message
oups.com...
Situation: Have a mobile home I use only in the summer. It is fed
from the pole to a main 60AMP breaker than then feeds panels inside the
mobile home.

This spring, half of the main breaker was tripping. Replaced main
breaker (60A) with a 50A breaker by mistake. No big deal, or so I
thought.

Main is still tripping -- but only HALF is tripping! I thought these
things had internal mechanisms to make sure they always threw both legs
and not just one.

Trying to get an electrician, but quickly finding out that around these
parts if it isn't a "large" job then nobody is interested. I've called
6 places and not one call back.

Electric company is no help. Keep telling them I SWEAR I smell the
meter "burning" when this trip helps. It smells like the meter itself
has burning insulation or plastic inside it.

Any ideas on what to check next? Could something be wrong at the
meter?

Robert


I think Federal Pacific main breakers used to do that. I remember many
years ago finding that to be the case on more than one occasion. One side
of the breaker would be dead and the other hot. I would reset the breaker
and everything would be fine.

As others have suggested, you should check the load first to see how many
amps are being pulled through that breaker. If the amps are low, look for
loose connections.