Kevin Ricks wrote:
John wrote:
I need some help with a electrical question. A few years ago I had
some electrical work done and the new wiring used up all my empty
slots as well as having to change most of my breakers to double ones.
At that time the electrician told me that if I ever wanted any more
wiring Id need a sub panel installed. I still have two single pole
breakers left, one for the dishwasher and one for the disposal. Why
cant these be changed to double pole giving me two more lines?

How can I verify that the panel is maxed out?

Thanks
John

Not all panels can take the double breakers in every slot. There should
be a label on the panel door that will indicate what the possible
combinations are.
There may be other issues as well such as no more empty connection slots
on the neutral and/or ground bus bars.

Kevin

Forgot to add another possibility: Often times the DW/Disp are wired
with an 'Edison' circuit which means that they have a shared neutral. IF
this is the case then the 2 hots MUST be connected to opposite poles.
Also the 2 breaker handles are supposed to be tied together (like a 240V
breaker), so that if one trips the other will also.

If you put both the circuits on a double (single slot) breaker then both
will only be connected to one side which could overload the neutral on
that circuit.

To verify this look at the 2 hot wires going to the DW/Disp breakers in
the panel. If there is a red wire and black wire + ONE white wire going
into a single cable, then you do have a shared neutral circuit. You
could also look in the DW/Disp outlet box. 3 wire cable (red, black ,
white, + bare) is almost always used on that type of circuit.

If it is not a shared neutral circuit and your panel can take more
doubles then you are OK.
Kevin