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(ligera) wrote in message . com...
I live in a 32 year old house with a fuse box with 3 "main" fuse
blocks, each containing two 350a cartridge fuses. After a recent
lightning storm, the insulation on the wires running from 2 of these
blocks has a short length slightly swollen and blackened, but not
melted off at all. I could just snip off a couple inches of the wire
and restrip it, but I can't shut off power to them because one of the
fuse blocks will not come out. I have yanked fairly hard on it, but it
only moves 2-3 cm. I can wiggle it sideways a bit, so it isn't
absolutely welded in there. I don't remember when I had this block out
before, so I can't say for certain the condition was caused by
lightning. The stuck block feeds two 10/3 round cables, with the two
red leads attached to the screw on one side, and the two black on the
other side. The lightning also caused shorts in 3 of the plug fuse
circuits, and I'm not sure if they run off the stuck fuse block, or
not. I don't have a main shut-off lever; I might have to pull the
meter, or get the utility company out. I would appreciate any advice
on this. Thank you.

CORRECTION: I meant to say the block will only come out 2-3 MILLIMETERS.