HOT curcuit breakers...

Chet · Sep 16, 2004

This was a new one on me, the wife said that the hot water tank breakers had tripped. So I reset them and measured current flow, it was normal, and I checked every connection in the box to make sure they were tight. But a couple of days later the 100 amp mains tripped. HMMMM, I went to the box and the mains were so hot you could not put your finger on them for more than a second. I looked at everything that was running and it could not have been more than 50-60 amps. None of the wires were warm either. So I reset the breaker, and waited till the next morning, and the mains were still pretty warm with no appreciable load. I fired up the AC, the clothes dryer and a few lights and before long the mains were piping hot again, I measured the current at less than 50 amps. So any way, I went and bought a new set of 100's and replaced the mains, which has cured the problem. But I have never run across a breaker that got hot before....Anyone else ever have this kind of problem????

B7500 · Sep 16, 2004

Possibly the connections of your mains to the buss were weak.
That would cause them to heat up.
-Terry

Bob_Skurka · Sep 16, 2004

We did at work. Our electrical contractor said he'd get one of the guys out to take care of it. But he said "In the mean time, get a fan and blow cool air at the breaker box."

I never found out the actual cause of the problem, but they simply changed out the breaker and that resolved the issue.

Mark4510 · Sep 16, 2004

Chet,
I am no expert....just my experience from being a home owner....but I have never run into that before. We tend to lose power a couple of times a year so I check them at least that often and have never run into that.

I worked for sometime for our utility company and I have to say after that experience I am intimidated by electricity. I just call an electrician.......

Chet · Sep 16, 2004

Yeah, I checked that too, the slots on the breaker were quite tight, I had to use a large pair of channel locks to pull out the breaker!

slowrev · Sep 16, 2004

Had that problem once, Turned out to be a bad/resistive connection. Do you have aluminum wire ? It is bad to corrode and cause a resistive connection. clean and use a proper electrical "grease" to fix or avoid the problem. Thomas and Betts has some good Electrical joint compounds for this issue, just check with your electrical supply distributor. I think aluminum wire is only used for the big stuff now, like the entrance cable, or maybe the range. I put copper between the meter base and main panel, costs more but gives peace of mind.

Always be careful around electricity, when in doubt get a pro to do it. Cheaper than a burned down house or a funeral.

dbelisle · Sep 16, 2004

I have seen that happen all to often. You can get oxidation on the buss bar, or the internal parts of the breaker can get corroded if there not be a good bond. The resistance generates heat which causes more oxidation and makes the problem get worse. Your lucky if that's all you had to do to solve your problem. A lot of times it will burn the buss bar that you lock the breaker into and you have to change the buss bar too.

I had a Ames store that was put up in the Sixties and they had all the lighting circuits loaded more than the 80% allowed by the code. The panels had 3 inch muffin fans in the bottom 3 inch knock outs blowing air up through the panels to keep them cool enough so you could touch the breakers. I ended up changing all the breakers and the panels cooled down.

Dave in NH

Chet · Sep 16, 2004

Slowrev, all the wiring is copper, I ran the wires to the box myself. the house is only five years old, and there is no sign of corrosion anywhere. The breakers themselves were definetly the culprit, had heat sign all over the bottom of them, and up the sides. Although I am not a licensed residential electrician, I did work on all kinds of low and high power curcuits and equipment in the Air Force as an electrician. I most definetely respect the stuff, I have been jolted a couple of times working on aircraft, but never yet at home. It was always my own fault of course, I grounded myself out once and laid my bare arm across a terminal board another time...24 volt DC will really get your attention /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

KENSFM · Sep 16, 2004

Just curious, what is the brand of your breaker box?
Ken /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

To20Chris · Sep 16, 2004

All you need is a little bit of contact resistance anywhere in the breaker assembly, and with that current you'll be dissipating a lot of power (heat). Check for this by measuring the voltage drop across the breaker. There better not be much, or you'll be making a lot of heat. The voltage drop across the breaker times the current flowing through it is the power dissipated. Probably just corrosion on the contacts. Is the box in a humid location?

A slightly resistive connection is one of the most dangerous situations. If there is a lot of resistance, the voltage drop will be so great that the load won't work and the current will be low, it is not as big a deal. A dead short will trip the breaker. But a little bit of resistance with a big current.......

Chet · Sep 16, 2004

Hmm... That I do not know, but the breaker that i had to pull out was a Siemens, made in Mexico.....maybe I will mail it to them and see if I get response /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Chet · Sep 16, 2004

I didn't think to check voltage drop across the breakers, but current draw was less than half the breaker rating. The box is in the bedroom, not really near any humid areas.....I will check the voltage drop tonight if I remember, but I here a cold refreshing beverage calling my name, it's 6:30 and we just finished Parent/Teacher Conference, so I am outta here till Monday Bye Ya'll Chet

Gomez · Sep 17, 2004

Chet,

As Chris pointed out, a bit of corrosion on the contact area inside the breaker will cause a lot of heat to be generated, even if the load is 50 Amps. Measuring the voltage drop is a quick way to detect high contact resistance. It should be less than a volt at load.

Sometimes, simply cycling the breaker a few times will clean off the oxidation inside the breaker.

Replacing the breaker was simple, easy insurance. Makes it easier to enjoy cold beverages! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Inspector507 · Sep 17, 2004

<font color="blue"> The box is in the bedroom </font>

Not intended to scare anyone at all, but hopefully you have smoke detectors in the bedroom.

B7500 · Sep 20, 2004

What do you use for deer feeders? We've been just throwing apples on the ground by the deck just to see them come around. I've never hunted we just like to see them.
-Terry

slowrev · Sep 21, 2004

"Do you feed the deer to get them to come to where you want and then wait till hunting season opens to shoot them? "

That seems to be the way it works around here with feeders and food plots.

I am not against responsible hunting at all, but this method seems to be cheating a bit to me. Between this method and the use of ATV's, hunters seem to have gotten somewhat lazy to me. I do my hunting the old fashoned way, stalk and carry.

Probably catch flak for this post, but that is my method and opinion.

Chet · Sep 21, 2004

Terry, Junkman & Slowrev,
It's not my property, but yes the feeders are to attract the deer for hunting from a stand. I know it can seem like cheating to some but I have also used the stalk and find method also. I'm sure some might take exception or have good reasons for both methods........I have not shot a deer using either method for some time, because I have not seen one that I thought would be the one I would hang on the wall, and of course I would have the deer rendered for consumption, I do not kill animals just for a trophy. The deer feeders are similiar to the Moultrie variety, a 5 gallon bucket with a 6-volt motor and spin plate to spread the whole corn. It has an eye that sets it off just after daylight and just before dark each day. Chet