"RogerT" wrote in message
...
I had a problem in electric service panel in a home that I own. One of the
breakers kept tripping. When I checked it out, the breaker was basically
fried and when I took it out it looked like the breaker pictured in the
link below:
http://www.terrylove.com/forums/show...839&viewfull=1

And, just like the description of the problem in the link, in my case the
other breaker that attached to the same hot lug(?) was also damaged. I
replaced both breakers and moved both down to a new location where the hot
terminal of the bus bar wasn't damaged. An electrician had to do the same
thing with another breaker in the past, and he had to move that one too
because hot lug to which that breaker was connected had melted.

This time, when looking at the whole panel, it appears that the breakers
are all old and there are some signs of rust or corrosion on the breaker
screws etc. I am assuming they are just old and maybe there was dampness
in the basement and the humidity was starting to corrode things.

My initial plan is to replace all of the breakers with new ones, which I
can easily do.

But, my real question is whether it is possible or practical to just
replace the hot bus bar at the same time since the old one has heat damage
at a few places. Unless this is something fairly easy to do, I would
probably have an electrician do it.

Assuming that the part is available, is replacing the hot bus bar a fairly
easy thing for an electrician to do? If so, the reason that I would want
to have that done rather than get the whole panel replaced is that
everything else in the panel appears to be fine. The main breaker had
already been replaced by an electrician in the past, so rather than having
to have all of the wiring removed and start over with a new panel, it
seems like just replacing the hot bus bar and circuit breakers would solve
the problem and save a whole lot on the cost and time involved in doing
the fix.

The service panel is a 100-amp Challenge brand panel with probably 30
circuits. I know Challenger is no longer in business and was bought by
Cutler-Hammer (now Easton Cutler-Hammer, I think). And, I know that
Cutler-Hammer circuit breakers are the replacement for the existing
Challenger BR breakers that I have. But, whether a replacement hot bus
bar part is available, I don't know.

So, again, my main question is: Assuming that the part is available, is
replacing the hot bus bar a fairly easy thing for an electrician to do?

Don't waste your time, next you'll be needing a new obsolete main breaker.
Change the panel with something mainstream, although I don't know that
you're going to find a 100 amp panel with 30 circuits