gloria wrote:
Hi! I'm new here and desperately seeking help with a wiring issue. We
have an old a/c window unit made by Friedrich's. It has a 3 prong 220
cord. We have an empty breaker box that we know has power coming into
it. We put in a 60 amp breaker and 12/3 wire to run to the a/c. We
tested the wires, hot to white and hot to ground, and the test was
fine. When we ran hot to off the breaker to the others and got no juice
to it. Tester was barely dim. Could this be a faulty breaker? We can
not get juice to the a/c at all. What could we do doing wrong? Should
the breaker be that high of amp? The outlet for the a/c says 20A. Is
this also important?

First, are you sure there is 220V not just 110V in the (formerly
empty?) box? What was/is the purpose of this box and why was it empty?

For 220V, there are two "hots", each 110V from ground and a ground,
_not_ a "hot to white" which would imply to me 110V, not 220V.

I have no idea what "ran hot to off the breaker to the others and got
no juice
to it." means--you'll have to be far more precise in what you did and
what you saw.

As for whether it could be a faulty breaker, anything is _possible_ but
unless it's an old or salvaged breaker from somewhere else, it would be
far down on my list of suspects.

Lastly, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, IMMEDIATELY remove the 60A breaker!!! A
12 ga conductor isn't rated for more than 20A and you're seriously over
sized for any protection other than a dead short. This is a dangerous
condition even if it were working and should not be allowed to continue
for any time at all.

As for recommendations, first you need to find out whether there is
220V available from the box to begin with. Then you need to determine
whether the feed to that box is capable of supplying the additional
load. Then, if both those conditions are met, you need a 20A two-pole
breaker specifically designed for the box.

Given the level of inexperience indicated by the post, I strongly
recommend getting an electrician to do this for you--that you would
place a 60A breaker on a 12ga circuit is a very dangerous thing to do.