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Calling Electricians

wvhuntwvhunt Member Posts: 822 ✭✭✭✭
edited March 2015 in General Discussion
Well the other night I smelt burning rubber/plastic from our laundry room. Assumed it was dryer going bad and turned it off to look at it later. Well I come home today to no power to dryer or washer. I opened breaker box and saw the breaker was still on so I went to flip it off and on and heard/saw sparks and instant burning smell. I took breaker off and the side prong on the 40amp breaker is completely burnt out and gone. Can there be a chance the breaker went bad and its as simple as that or does this mean I have something going wrong with my wire some where.
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Comments

  • evileye fleagalevileye fleagal Member Posts: 4,238 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    that or a rat, cooked rat grounding wire.
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  • perry shooterperry shooter Member Posts: 17,105 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    what brand is your breaker box [?]if this is an electric dryer it should be 220 volt breaker but washer is normally a 120 volt different breaker ???
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  • pistoljimpistoljim Member Posts: 967 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I would say loose connection between breaker and buss bar in panel.
    As long as you have no damage to buss bar, replace breaker and all should be good.
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  • SGSG Member Posts: 7,548
    edited November -1
    Breaker won't burn out without a short,plus you smelled burning from laundry room. You have a wiring issue.
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  • SGSG Member Posts: 7,548
    edited November -1
    Hook up a different breaker and see if it happens again. Is the panel in the laundry room?
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  • wvhuntwvhunt Member Posts: 822 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Breaker box is sylvania 220. I assumed its just as simple as the breaker but everyone is telling me to have it looked at that a breaker shouldnt go bad. Shouldnt and cant are two different things in my book. Overall the box and all other breakers seem fine. Wires going to the breaker seem fine.
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  • wvhuntwvhunt Member Posts: 822 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Breaker box is in the laundry room thats why I smelt it in there.
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  • SGSG Member Posts: 7,548
    edited November -1
    Breakers will just quit working they won't burn out like that unless there's a short.Atleast 99% of the time.
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  • pistoljimpistoljim Member Posts: 967 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If it was a short, the breaker would trip. I have replaced many breakers and receptacles that were melted from a loose conn.
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  • LesWVaLesWVa Member Posts: 10,490 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    If it is burnt on one just one leg. Most likely it was caused by a loose wire arcing. Very rarely it can happen if something crosses (shorts) the two 120 volt legs on the breaker boxes fuss bars.

    Check the dryer plugs outlet for damage also when you change the breaker if you do not have the dryer hard wired on a 4 wire system.
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  • wvhuntwvhunt Member Posts: 822 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The main plug is fine it is one of the side prongs, honestly it looks like it was loose and arched.
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  • wvhuntwvhunt Member Posts: 822 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    also the breaker never tripped which lead me to believe the breaker went bad or due to loose connection on the side prong on the 40 amp breaker
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  • bpostbpost Member Posts: 32,669 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by wvhunt
    Breaker box is sylvania 220. I assumed its just as simple as the breaker but everyone is telling me to have it looked at that a breaker shouldnt go bad. Shouldnt and cant are two different things in my book. Overall the box and all other breakers seem fine. Wires going to the breaker seem fine.


    I had a 40 amp Breaker go bad, the damage was as you describe. It is one reason I torque the breaker connections every year or so in the breaker box. One leg was a bit loose and over time the heat just added up to a failure.
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  • babunbabun Member Posts: 11,038 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If you have the old style breakers such this one, it most probably just loosened on the bus bars. It was a bad design. Shut the main off,clean the bus bar with fine sandpaper then reinstall a new breaker.

    That's why all commercial, industrial panels use bolt in breakers.

    ""The main plug is fine it is one of the side prongs, honestly it looks like it was loose and arched.""
    YES to above.

    ZINSCO_2-POLE_1024x1024.jpg?v=1412716656
    7119071613?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.azpartsmaster.com%2FImages%2Fproducts%2Felectrical%2Fbkrqc2100.jpg&d=cf7ff5324941a561e23dbca206df1cb5902107e8&hei=333&wid=333&op_sharpen=1
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  • wundudneewundudnee Member Posts: 6,108 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I worked in a boiler plant. Every year on the summer maintenance schedule we checked and tightened every lug in every box. That's a whole lot of screwing.[:0]
    standard.jpg
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  • wvhuntwvhunt Member Posts: 822 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yes its an older snap in design not bolted in.
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  • OakieOakie Member Posts: 40,565 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Put a new breaker in and you should be fine. Make sure every thing is tight. Also, while you got it apart, tighten all the screws on your breakers, especially if you have aluminium wires. The vibration of the electricity passing through the wire will loosen the screws on the breaker itself. Oakie
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  • fishkiller41fishkiller41 Member Posts: 50,608
    edited November -1
    TURN OFF MAIN.
    Replace breaker.
    WHile MAIN IS OFF,tighten EVERY CONNECTION IN THE PANEL TILL IT WON"T MOVE!!!!
    If that don't work for U,call a realelectrition...
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  • wiz1997wiz1997 Member Posts: 1,051 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by pistoljim
    I would say loose connection between breaker and buss bar in panel.
    As long as you have no damage to buss bar, replace breaker and all should be good.



    +1 Check the buss bar connection point.

    I like to use an anti-corrosive compound on the connections between the buss and breaker, plus a little in the screw lug where the wire terminates. May be a bit of over kill but it keeps things from corroding. Nolox, or Penetrox are a couple of brands. Any hardware or big box home supply store.

    Loose connections are one of the main causes of buss and breaker damage so check those connections. With the main breaker off!!

    Over tightening can cause problems. Too tight can pinch the wire in two especially aluminum wires. There are recommended torques.

    I've seen breakers that were twenty years old and never tripped still working until you turn it off. Once you turn it off it never resets. Go figure that one.
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  • toolmaniamtoolmaniam Member Posts: 3,213
    edited November -1
    Could be a dead short. Or it could be a bad breaker. Replace the breaker, if its a dead short the new breaker should trip. Put no-ox on all the connections and you should be fine.
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  • roswellnativeroswellnative Member Posts: 10,195 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    First off this is a gun forum. What gauge is your wire?
    Although always described as a cowboy, Roswellnative generally acts as a righter of wrongs or bodyguard of some sort, where he excels thanks to his resourcefulness and incredible gun prowesses.
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  • toolmaniamtoolmaniam Member Posts: 3,213
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by roswellnative
    First off this is a gun forum. What gauge is your wire?
    should be 6 gauge
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