Jeff Wisnia wrote:
Laurie wrote:

snipped

If there is a loose wire at the breaker for the dryer, which I will
now unlabel and then relabel making everyone happy ;-), when the
dryer is running will it a) be hot to the touch and b) if I touch it
am I likely to fry myself?

Laurie


You won't fry yourself if you follow the steps below, but it never
hurts to have a buddy standing by, just in case....

In order to check whether one (or both) of the breaker's output
connections are getting hot because the output wires connected to it
are not tightly gripped by their clamp screws, do this:

Make sure you can correctly identify the main circuit breaker, the one
which controls power flow to all the smaller breakers in the panel.

Switch that main breaker OFF and then remove the cover plate from the
breaker panel, exposing the wires and connections behind it.

Switch the main breaker ON again, keeping your fingers away from all
those wires in the panel.

Turn on the dryer and let it run for 15 minutes.

Leave the dryer running and go to the panel. Switch the main breaker
OFF to make sure there's no voltage on ANY of the smaller breakers in
the panel. Flip the dryer breaker OFF too, you can't be too safe
y'know.
At that point (if you've done all the prior steps correctly) it will
be safe to feel the dryer breaker's output terminals with a fingertip,
while keeping your other hand at your side. (And don't be standing in
a puddle of water either.)

If either (or both) of the dryer's breaker output terminals feels hot,
grab a screwdriver and tighten those terminal clamp screws. Heck, try
tightening them anyway, if you're uncertain about how warm they feel.

Put the cover plate back on and flip the main and dryer breakers back
on.
HTH,

Wow. And here I was mentally thinking that I could just put my hand on the
breaker itself (the plastic part)! :-) I do need to go look for the main
power breaker now, since we have discovered that the one marked main is
actually the dryer!!

Apparently, the fun never ends! ;-)

Truth be told, I don't think I'd attempt the above even though it seems
fairly straight forward - if it blows again I think I'll probably get my
electrician friend over and have him replace the breakers. This house is
like 30 years old, so I don't know if breakers age (I just had an entire
Federal something or other panel replaced at one of my rental properties
based on the recommendation of a friend due to risk of fire), but maybe
they're just old. You were right originally, things don't blow for no
reason, so once burned, twice shy. Third time I'd be an idiot... ;-)