On Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:13:37 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

I've had this happen before on a breaker that was feeding a 220V hot
water heater, and also on another 220 breaker feeding a clothes
dryer. Just replace the breaker.

Don't understand what was aluminum, the breaker terminal or the bar
the breaker clips into. Aluminum was popular for a while for wiring,
but is bad in the real world. You could also replace the outside
breaker box.... Joel in Florida
=======
Wondering (a) why only one side would short that way; (b) is aluminum
suitable for those terminals, or is that old technology, away from
which I should run; (c) where I could get a new terminal (10 minute
job) instead of replacing the whole box (electricity off for several
hours).

Insight? *Comments? *Physical threats?

Best -- Terry

Hi Joel, the lug that the breaker pushes into is aluminum. Copper
wire runs from the main breaker box and fastens to that lug with a set
screw. It's a dual breaker for 220; one lug is still good, the other
is trash. That lug and the breaker both needed to be replaced. As I
found out this morning after visiting five different shops, replacing
the breaker was easy; the lug was impossible (too old).

One guy suggested pulling the 'guts' from a new box and installing it
in the old one. No thanks. Resigned myself to several hours* w/o
electricity this weekend while I replace the entire box with a SquareD
box n breaker.

Thanks -- Terry
*If I was smart 'n everything, I'd probably be able to do the job in
30 minutes. Learned long ago that I'm not that smart and I'll always
underestimate the time for the job, especially when I've never done it
before... And I'll make at least three more trips to the electrical
shop on Saturday, probably...