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RBM[_3_] RBM[_3_] is offline
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Default Electrical switch -- no longer controls outlets -- Help??


"Twayne" wrote in message
...
In ,
RBM typed:
"Twayne" wrote in message
...
In ,
RBM typed:
"tim birr" wrote in message
...
On Dec 25, 5:06 am, "RBM" wrote:

There are a variety of grades of receptacles. What you should be
using is
a better than residential grade receptacle, not a higher amperage
rated one. In the US, it is incorrect to install 20 amp
receptacles on 15 amp circuits, which may or may not be what
you've done, as you didn't mention
the ampacity of the circuit.- Hide quoted text -



Have no idea about the amps stuff for the electric outlets , just
using what an electrician told me to use after I had him here
several years ago to swap out my "split buss" electrical main
panel. I think that was the term. It had no main shut-off and was
always hot. Made me nervous when I had to replace a faulty water heater
circuit
breaker before I had the panel upgraded. I wore rubber boots. Two
pairs of thick rubber gloves, stood on a board and said my prayers
when I did that circuit breaker swap out.

The new outlets he told me to use seem pretty quality -- and of
course cost $4.50 a pop. They seem to be more "rubberized" sort of
material instead of the brittle plastic of the contractor-installed
original outlets.

I originally asked the electrician how to remove the wires from the
"spring catches" without breaking apart the old outlet. He just
ignored my question and gave me an empty outlet package and told to
replace them with "this kind."



FYI, your old split buss panel didn't have "a" main breaker, it had
several main breakers including the one you changed. The main wires
in your new panel are still live regardless if the breaker being on
or off.

What? Did I miss something? Kill the two Main breakers in my panel,
and the only power left in the box is going TO those breakers. Nothing,
nada, on the power bars or anywhere else. I know for
sure; I always check for power presence either with a meter or the
ol' screwdriver test (but not inside the entrance box!).
Or was that just a bad attempt at sarcasm? g

Twayne
--
--
We've already reached
tomorrow's yesterday
but we're still far away from
yesterday's tomorrow.




From what you've written, I can't tell what you've missed, didn't
miss, or what you're talking about.
My statement to the OP, was that even in a panel with a single main
circuit breaker, there will be live wires even with the main turned
off, similar to that of a split buss panel. The only difference is
that the upper buss always remains live in the split buss panel, even
with all the mains turned off.


Only this: In any panel I've ever been into, which doesn't measure in the
hundreds but is quite a few, and this included my own:

Main breakers kill power to the entire iinards of the box except for their
input side. The input side can only connect to the meter, which, unless
pulled, leaves the input sides powered.
Power only exists on the wires coming FROM the meter up TO the main
breakers. There will be NO power on either of the busses, either phase, or
anywhere else. With the Mains turned OFF, NOTHING is powered, no voltage
exists except as noted above, which is kinda a necessity.
What's so hard to understand about that? When you open the two phases
coming INTO the box, nothing else has a source of power. Same as pulling
the meter except there wouldn't even be power to the Main Breakers then.
Transformer feeds meter feeds Mains Breakers, feeds individual house
breakers that hang on the busses. It's that simple, no?

Twayne
--
--
We've already reached
tomorrow's yesterday
but we're still far away from
yesterday's tomorrow.


That was essentially the point I was making to the OP. There is always live
power in the panel, even with the main off, albeit only at the terminals to
the main breaker. This is not exactly true with a split buss panel however.
The main wires don't connect to a breaker, but instead, they connect to the
terminals feeding the main breaker buss, which generally holds up to six
double pole breakers. One of those breakers feeds the lower buss. This
entire upper buss is live regardless of the position of the main breakers
attached to it, making it a little more dangerous to work in live.