lapseofmind
Member
- Location
- Washington
I was approached the other by someone in the shop where I work and this is his problem:
He has a little subpanel, fed from another subpanel, fed from his main. That little subpanel was used to power a hot tub. Apparently it had been on for a long time and then one day he lost power to his kitchen. After that, a 2-pole 70amp breaker in the main started sparking. He showed me pictures.
One picture showed that one of the legs on the breaker, where it stabs into the panel, was burned up pretty good. Another picture showed the lines coming in, feeding the panel. One was blackened and the part of the enclosure around it was melted(apparently it's in a plastic enclosure).
I had him turn the main breaker off, file off the black substance that had accumulated on the tab where the breaker had been sparking and put a new breaker in. Then I had him disconnect the wires going to the little sub-sub panel.
Thoughts on why this would occur? Possibly back feeding and a faulty breaker? I'm a new journeyman with mainly construction experience so service work isn't exactly my strong suit. Still, I'd like to learn and get better.
He has a little subpanel, fed from another subpanel, fed from his main. That little subpanel was used to power a hot tub. Apparently it had been on for a long time and then one day he lost power to his kitchen. After that, a 2-pole 70amp breaker in the main started sparking. He showed me pictures.
One picture showed that one of the legs on the breaker, where it stabs into the panel, was burned up pretty good. Another picture showed the lines coming in, feeding the panel. One was blackened and the part of the enclosure around it was melted(apparently it's in a plastic enclosure).
I had him turn the main breaker off, file off the black substance that had accumulated on the tab where the breaker had been sparking and put a new breaker in. Then I had him disconnect the wires going to the little sub-sub panel.
Thoughts on why this would occur? Possibly back feeding and a faulty breaker? I'm a new journeyman with mainly construction experience so service work isn't exactly my strong suit. Still, I'd like to learn and get better.