I had 100 amp panel and some things were double and triple lugged but breakers amperage was sufficient. Anyway, we upgraded to 200 amp for the main panel and added 2 - 30 amp sub panels, one in the shed for all that electrical stuff and one in the new workshop. Then we added a 125 amp subpanel in the boiler room for the on-demand electric hot water panel to take advantage of the lower electric rates in the summer for heating hot water and if the oil prices soar we can just kill the boiler and use wood pellet heat. So we now have a total of 385 amps but not many slots left because we added a 50 amp welder outlet for the new welder and plasma cutter and a pool timer for the filter. So many items must be on their own breaker these days!
from looks of the picture that isn't a red light, that nut is cherry red from amperage flowing through it. You have a major problem there. That ground/neutral line ( if that is what it is ) is way overloaded, the connector is burned as well
I think that’s the point. It’s so obvious that there is a problem that it is almost comical. And scary all at the same time.
First, be really careful. (Sorry, I have no idea what your qualifications are.) If the main breaker wouldn't stay on, you could have a really dangerous condition there, it may be rotted inside. Waiting any period of time could be a game of Russian Roulette. What kind/brand panel is it? Are the mains Copper, Tinned Copper or Aluminum? 100 amp. service may be perfectly adequate, it's completely load dependent and just automatically going to 200 amp for no reason is a waste of money. Smaller house, gas instead of electric for major appliances like kitchen stove/oven, water heater, clothes dryer etc. 100 amp is usually more than enough. Just for kicks, take a picture of your meter panel outside too. If you post a few pictures, I may be able to help a lot more.
We're not supposed to pull our own meters but in the 20+ times I've done it the power company just put a new seal on without saying a word. Well except for one time. Years ago I was at a fire and the guys were rushing in with hoses and I knocked the meter off with a axe. Power company wanted the FD to pay for damaged property.
When my meter caught fire The power company took it and wouldn’t bring it back!! Then they told me it was a new customer even though I had bills for the last 12 years at the same place
Speaking of main breakers, here's a really dumb question, I think I kind of know the answer but wanted to be certain. Would this be a 50AMP or 100AMP? They are connected. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
It's 50 amp. - That breaker. But that looks like a split bus panel, where there are actually several, usually up to six, main breakers. Hard to tell as the photo is only partial. Sometimes they get reconfigured too.
It's not always a given that it's a 240v circuit. There are instances where it is two 120v circuits that are required to be common trip at the breaker. Would be highly unlikely at that amperage but not impossible. Could even be the feed to a sub panel. ReelFaster, post a picture of the whole panel if you can.
Thanks fellas here you go. Not much knowledge on this stuff but was thinking it was a 100 AMP since the two are attached. My breaker for the A/C is a 30amp breaker.
