Robert Green wrote:

"jamesgangnc" wrote in message
...
On Nov 19, 3:08 pm, wrote:
On Fri, 19 Nov 2010 06:38:41 -0500, "Robert Green"





wrote:
"al" wrote in message
...
On Nov 18, 11:05 pm, wrote:

You can break that tie real quick, does the dryer get hot (or some
other 240v appliance)?

Neither the dryer nor the hot water heater is heating and the
microwave is worthless.

Now it definitely sounds like a problem located somewhere between the
circuit panel (fuses? really? Where are you located?) and the utility
pole. My guess is that the connection to one of the hot bus bars is
intermittent and as the box heats and cools, the connection makes and
breaks
from the different expansion rates between the wire and the clamping
device.
I've found those sorts of failures appear often in the spring and fall,
when
temperatures shift widely. Could be as simple as knowing what screw to
twist.

This is where you have to evaluate your competence to work on 240VAC
systems
and decide whether it's time to call an electrician. I'd be hiring one to
install a circuit breaker panel if I were you, and probably to heavy up
the
whole installation. Last time I saw a fuse panel was in a house that had
only a 60A feeder. Way too little for modern life, IMHO.

The only thing good about fuses is that they prevent people from using
them
improperly as ON/OFF switches the way too many people do with circuit
breakers. You can, of course, unscrew the fuse if you want to use it as a
switch, but that's not potentially destructive to the safety capabilty of
the fuse. At least not the way using a circuit breaker as a switch is.

Well, there were LOTS of 200 amp fuse panels installed, and I have a
100 amp fuse panel innmy house.
Fuses are a lot more reliable than breakers. Fewer "nuisance trips",
although fuses can fail from age/heat cycling/fatigue - and virtually
no chance of "sticking" and failing to trip when required. They are a
nuiscnae when they do blow - you need to have the right value fuse
within ready reach, and a flashlight next to the panel is always a
good idea.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

We rented a condo down in miami a few times and they left instructions
to flip the breakers on for the hot water and the hvac when you
arrived and flip them off when you left. I thought about telling them
that was going to bite them but most people really don't like
unsolicited advice.

"It looks like a switch, so it *must* be a switch" is the attitude a lot of
people take when using a breaker as a switch but it's really not a good
idea.

A lot of circuit breakers are specifically rated for switching duty, and
it is very common in industrial facilities like warehouses for the
circuit breakers to double as the light switches.