On Sat, 14 May 2011 20:41:15 -0700 (PDT), Evan
wrote:

On May 14, 11:29Â*pm, wrote:
On Sat, 14 May 2011 11:11:51 -0700 (PDT), dumbstruck



wrote:
I get no power to a kitchen stove, and I notice it's 50 amp circuit
breaker flops loosely back and forth (in old westinghouse wpa panel).
Does this mean the breaker needs replacing, or can it be coaxed to
work somehow? Or could it be ok and it's not being fed power (but
adjacent breakers work ok)? The stove hasn't drawn power except for
it's clock for a dozen years, so maybe salt air corrosion took effect
on contacts?

The next issue is fixing it... not easily turned off due to being a
multi family unit panel. Building power will be turned off for a
coming maintenance day, but without working elevators no electrician
will want to climb the many stories to work on it. Can I fix it
myself? I don't see any way to detach the metal frame from it.

thanks

Â*My STRONG suspicion is the bus bar the breaker connects to is burned
at the contact. In which case the panel will need to be replaced.

How do you arrive at that suspicion with so little evidence to
support anything other than a busted breaker... There looked
to be *ZERO* evidence of overloading on that branch circuit
as the wiring looked normal and there was no evidence of
scorched connections or melted insulation on the branch
wires for that circuit... The connections to the breaker looked
normal and not distorted or melted... You really do need
an *overload* condition to burn the breaker at the busbar
contact position...

~~ Evan
The OP state the breaker appered to be loose in the panel. Thebreaker
has apparently not been supplying power to the stove for some time,
but at one point in the past it was. The bus bar where the breaker
connects was a weak point in some of those (early) breaker panels,
burnrd or eroded buss bars were not an uncommon occurrene. They would
not necessarily show any overheating where the wires connect to the
breaker, or anywhere else on the wiring, and no "overload" would be
required for the problem to occur.
He also mentions "salt air corrosion" - where IS this panel located
(both geographically and in the building)?