Re: Replacing a circuit breaker 110 Volts
- From: mm <NOPSAMmm2005@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 07:26:03 -0500
On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 22:44:47 -0500, "CGB" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>All electric devices failed on one of my circuits in my house. The circuit
>breaker at the main box didn't look tripped but I find that it isn't always
>easy to see they've tripped. When flipping this circuit breaker back and
>forth, it feels a little "mushy" i.e. doesn't really seem to click on/off.
>
>I'd like to replace this 15 amp circuit breaker rather that spend about
>$100+ for an electrician to do it. I've seen it done before, but haven't
>done it myself. Do you experts think it's reasonable for a non-electrician
>to be doing this? And, is my approach correct?
>My approach would be
>a. Turn off the "Main Breaker" at my box
>b. Remove the front of the circuit breaker box (4 screws, one on each
>corner)
>c. I'd find the old circuit breaker held in place by 2 screws ????
>Remove it.
>d. Disconnect the wires from the old one and attach to the new breaker and
>reverse above steps.
>Also, I have a multi-tester that will test for voltage up to 220. After
This sounds like a real meter to me, but if it's not, it's worth
buying one. $20 dollars would be enough, and it will last for
decades. If you have is a neon light with a couple wires, you can get
by with that in this case, but if it is the model with just two 3-inch
leads, that's really too short when you want your hands to be free and
to hold the test probes 3 inches from the wires your touching and to
hold your hands away from everything. Especially when things are
still hot.
>exposing the faulty circuit breaker, I could test the circuit to see if it
>is in fact dead (I turned the "main" off), before working on it. Question
Before I turned the power off, I would verify that the meter worked
but stuffing one probe in each slot of a regular receptacle. Should
say 110 to 120 volts AC,
Eventually, after I became confident, which may not be this week, I
would also test at the output screw of the suppposedly bad breaker to
make sure it is actually dead there too. And I would test the breaker
to it, to make sure the meter is working (meaning I wouldn't have had
to do it in the previous paragraph.)
The reasons for these extra tests is that some day, once you're more
confident, you'll assume the wrong thing is bad, and you'll run around
in circles, replacing the wrong thing only to have the system still
not work. Then you'll have to put things partly back togeher and do
these tests, so it pays to make more tests in the first place. But
this time, you've probably got it right.
Then I would turn everything off. I use a flashlight that takes C
size batteries, fits in my mouth and points where I am looking. there
are those that strap to one's head too, and I have one, but haven't
used it for more than 10 minutes so far.
>is: I would attach the + side of the tester to either wire (testing both, I
>know one is coming in from the main and the other is going out to the
>circuit. I'd test each side to be sure I got the supply side) and the
>black side to what??? I could reach the black wire to the grounding wire
covered elsewhere.
I've added one circuit breaker and replaced another. I just bought,
in advance, the one they sold the most of at the store**, that was the
same width as the one in my box with the cover on. If I had gotten
the wrong one, I would have just left things unfinished and gone to
buy the right one. Of course I live alone, so no one needs
electricity when I'm not there. But, I got the right one each time.
If there were only two choices you could buy both and return one.
**This assumes the store is somwhere near you. They sell different
things in the suburbs for example from what they sell in Brooklyn
hardware stores. Because the housing is newer in the suburbs on
average.
>outside the circuit breaker box that attaches to a copper pipe running into
>the ground, but wouldn't I have an uninsulated 110 v. current running there
>when testing. Is there an obvious ground inside the circuit breaker box
>that I could touch with the circuit tester black wire?
>
>Thanks
>
>Chet
>
Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.
.
- References:
- Replacing a circuit breaker 110 Volts
- From: CGB
- Replacing a circuit breaker 110 Volts
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