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.

350a!!!! Our current old house has only 60a fuses.

-=-
Alan


On 10/31/03 11:14 am ligera put fingers to keyboard and launched the
following message into cyberspace:

I live in a 32 year old house with a fuse box with 3 "main" fuse
blocks, each containing two 350a cartridge fuses.

I would appreciate any advice on this.

Better get a qualified electrician to do your repairs. Since it is related to a
lightning strike, file a claim for payment with your insurance company.
Lighning strikes can cause all manner of hidden damage to household electric
systems, so survey for other problems. It also appears that you have a system
that fails to meet current safety and code standards so an upgrade would be a
simple common sense improvement. Good luck.

Joe

(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.