On Sat, 04 Jun 2005 22:01:23 GMT, xray
wrote:
On Sat, 04 Jun 2005 09:42:42 GMT, xray
wrote:
In the electric box that feeds my house, I want to replace one circuit
breaker. What holds them in?
Thanks to everyone for the replies.
Once I understood that they pull out on the bus bar side, I easily got
it out. Went to Home Depot and discovered that I needed a type-F but
they didn't seem to have any. Orchard supply did have what I needed.
Yikes! A 2-pole 50A breaker costs about twice what I would have guessed.
So with the advice gained here I got my project under control.
Type F? As in FPE - Federal Pacific Electric / Federal Pioneer
Electric (Canada)? If that's the panel you have in the house, change
out the main service or panel as soon as possible. There is a large
body of evidence leading to the conclusion that continued use is not
safe. In my opinion, I would call circuit breakers that can jam into
a condition where they will not trip under any level of short-circuit
overload "a big problem".
I am serious, this isn't an "emergency" but should be done when you
can. Call your local power utility for a 'meter spotting' to see if
they want you to move the service entrance or go underground, make
your plans (Okay, pencil sketches), pull the permit if you need one,
and get the materials together for a panel change. Wait for the
weather to be nice, pick a day, and do it.
Don't take my word for it - go do some Googling around on it, but
start at
http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm
http://www.mikeholt.com/mojonewsarch...e~20050530.php
http://www.greatinspector.com/faq-elec-fed-pacif.html
http://www.cornerstone-inspection.com/fpe.html
http://www.codecheck.com/FPE_breakers.htm
Nobody is willing or able to force a recall - since the original
company went bust, and the CPSC got their ass handed to them by Alcoa
over aluminum house wiring so they didn't want another drubbing. And
American Breaker who makes replacement FPE breakers of course is
discounting all the talk about problems as baseless... But the basic
conclusion remains: IMHO FPE panels are junk that needs to be pulled
from service, especially at the first signs of trouble.
And there must be something behind it, there are some property
insurance companies making panel replacement a condition of issuing
insurance, they're having to rip out panels 50 at a time at condos.
There is some evidence that Federal Pacific faked their UL Rating
testing for the breaker trips and general durability for service, and
the entire line has been delisted. (But what Reliance Electric found
about that is in sealed court records.) The breakers show a nasty
habit of failing to trip on overload or jamming to where they can
never trip, and the panel and busbar designs are a stinker - the
panels meltdown in a failure. On some panel designs they run 200 Amps
from the Main through an 8-32 screw to the main buss.
Whenever I hear multiple credible reports of stuff like this, I
worry. You should NEVER have a breaker fail to trip on an overload of
200% or more, or on a bolted fault short. But this appears to happen
to a large sample of FPE breakers found in use in the field.
The generic Korean replacement breakers sold in the hardware store
are even worse - the retail stores should be held liable for selling
equipment in the US that is not UL-listed, but the management must
feel that Ignorance Is Bliss.
-- Bruce --
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
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