Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Need help adding an electrical breaker

I'm trying to add a new breaker to the cabin I inherited.It's a fairly small outside box but the pannel shows places for two more breakers.

This cabin doesn't have enough plugins,so this line would add 4 more.It's 110v and I have the plugs wired.

Yes,I THREW THE MAIN BREAKER.THE POWER IS OFF!!

I hope the pictures will help.This first one shows break outs for 4 more breakers.


This inside picture showes some bolted on piece in the way of where a breaker would go.Even if I remove this bolted on piece,I can't see where the breaker would plug in.I understand it hooks under the one side but there is no place on the flat copper bar to plug it into.


This is the breaker and I have a screw driver pointed to the spot where it plugs in.I just can't see a protrusion in the box that would plug into this spot on the breaker.


Do I need some sort of adapter that will attach to the flat copper bar that my breaker can plug into? I there possibly a plug in spot under that bolted on piece?

Yes,I probably need an electrician but even if I don't do this I still want to know.Seems easy enough.Just attach my ground with the others in the box,attach the hot to the breaker and plug it in.I just can't see where it plugs in.

You can not use any more spots, that box is a maximum now.
You would need to install a whole new box or what is called a sub panel, beside the main and use the sub panel to run new circuits, but you should not exceed what appears to be a 100 amp service.

You need a bigger breaker box - it is mis-wired, and illegal, as is. The 2-pole 40 on the bottom left appears to be controlling at least 2, 20 amp circuits, which are NOT adequately protected.
You NEED an electrician, or at least, someone who KNOWS what they're doing - as you have a hazard on your hands!

Mark

you have 2 open breakers on the left bank 20 amp each

The one's with out wires on them

UFFDA...

Where you think more breakers should go are the main lugs to feed the panel. The 100 amp breaker was backfed to give protection to the panel.

There is a twinn 20 that is not being used that would give you 2 twenty amp circuits.

The double 40 is a major no-no. You can't put 2- twenty amp circuits on a 2pole 40 and call it good.

Have an electrician replace your panel with a proper sized panel with more circuits and fix all the wiring "mistakes" that could burn your place down.

That installation appears to be "fusing" neutrals, for lack of a more understandable phrase (illegal, and dangerous). You appear to be not using the 2d pair of "twin" breakers on the left, so, you MIGHT be marginally OK (I DON'T know what any of your circuits do - so can't offer a more detailed opinion)!
You NEED a pro to sort it out!
Mark

And also you appear to have 20 amp breakers so they should have #12 wire.
up hear we use 15 amp for all outlets and light switches and run #14 wire.

Hire a qualified electrician. Adding circuits requires much more information than you have given. Increasing load size (ie circuits) may require a larger panel, service entrance cables, etc.

After a second look, this looks to be a sub-panel? It should be energized through the lugs not a breaker?

Old06
Should I use one of thoes breakers or install the new one in place of that old double? Would the extra hole make it more dangerous if I replaced the double with a single.

Thanks for the warning everyone.I'll have to look for a good electrician.My mother hired a susposedly liscensed local electrician about 8 years ago to replace the original box and this is the result.

What are you trying to run

This would just be TV and VCR,computer,DVD.It was all run off one of thoes plug in extension strips before.

You have got some good advice on the other post temporality use one of your free 20amp but there are many things wrong there.
Get a real electrician to do someting for sure before you have a fire

check out the brown recluse above the top left


be careful


looks like they didn't have big enough wire for whatever is on that dbl pole 40, so they doubled two smaller gauges

I hear banjo music

I think he was dried out.Probably electricuted from faulty wiring.The place is eat up with them though.

In some places at least, you can use a breaker for a main in a subpanel. I did it in both my shop and garage and the inspector passed them without question.

If that is the main panel, the 100a is to follow the six handle rule. It can't be fed by the main lugs, legally.
Mark

That is the only breaker box.The two 40's on the bottom left are feeding two 220's.

The cabin is terribly lacking in the wiring department.The original builders used two circuits for every plugin in the house.One circuit for each side of the house.You can't run two appliances at the same time.

The wire for the plugins is between the logs without even enough wire to change a plug.I built a wall and added some plugins and wanted them on a new circuit.

It's for sure got some afro engineering going on. It's a sub panel that's been used for a main panel by back feeding through the 100 amp double pole breaker in the top right. It works but it's not the right way to do it. The 40 amp double pole in the bottom left is fubar, it's got two 12 gauge wires on each pole so it's really not protecting anything. I assume it's being used as a 220 and both wires are running to a 220 outlet on the other end, I've seen some rig them that way when they didn't want to buy the right 8 gauge wire for a 40 amp circuit, they run two 12/2 wires together like that. That abomination on the lower right is pretty rigged also. The right thing to do would be to replace the whole panel with a 100 amp service panel a main breaker and enough spaces to fit everything.

However, if you're like me you've probably heard enough of guys lecturing you on how things SHOULD be done and just want to get your danged outlets to work. You can pull out the double pole 20 amp breaker and replace it with your single pole breaker, it just tilts out from the center. Wire your black wire to the breaker and you white and ground to the common bar on the left. Alternately you can just use one half of the breaker that's already there, wire your black wire to it and the white and ground to the common bar on the left. Either way will work.

True if it was being used as a "sub-panel" but this is a service panel I believe? Most jurisdictions require a service panel marked as suitable for use as service panels. Most sub panels are not marked I believe?