Thank you, Thanks everyone who has taken time to answer. I dont know how to make it any clearer , I understand the risks and I will utilize an electrician. I want to learn what can be done so i have enough understanding to make good choices.
This is what happened to the main breaker when I had my own old 100 amp panel. We came home from vacation and like most people, the AC went on, the washer and dryer started up with a lot of laundry, the dishwasher started and other things like TV and fans. After a while my wife with her super smell said she could smell something burning in the basement which I could not smell! She thought it may be a wire or something like that. So I went down there and did not see any fire or smoke but finally when I got near the 100 amp circuit box just like yours, it was made by challenger which I found later had a higher failure rate. Anyway I removed the cover and the smell was coming from the main 100 amp breaker. So I slowly shut all the circuits down and then the main breakers. Then I could plainly see that because the springs in the breaker were loosing their tensil strength from about 23 years of use that the partial separation of the contacts caused arching and actually melted some of the breaker! LOL So I jumped in the car and went to the local Home Depot and picked up a new one for about $47 bucks! https://www.homedepot.com/s/homeline 100 amp?searchtype=text&NCNI-5 Bingo all fixed and back up and running on a Sunday afternoon. So that is what can happen. Here are some pics and more info. Strange smell in basement and Circuit Panel feels hot next to 100 Amp Main Circuit Breakers! Melted failed breaker below
As for old breakers, I’m far from an expert, not even a novice. Mom had an electrical fire. Wired melted in the ceiling. I would have thought the breaker should have popped before that happened. So it’s possible old breakers may wear to the point where they don’t work when they need too.
They go both ways from not tripping to tripping way before they should. there are a lot of very poor electrical connections on various appliances. The connections create resistance which in turn causes heat to the point of melting insulation or burning the connection off. At that point depending on what's nearby one could have a fire. Excessive current draw was not the issue. Undersized wiring/ contact areas generally are the culprit- thank the bean counters.
Thirty years ago a neighbors daughter came over saying the power was out in the house and she didn't know where the fuse was. When I went to check I found there was only a single 30 amp screw in fuse that covered the entire house.
why I get nervous with older breakers; main power shut that came into my home. Yes it’s fried! Actual breaker is welded open. Now I know it was transformer that went bad and energized this breaker. Breaker should have tripped. Wire over heated caught small part of house on fire. 23? Days without power. If I had not been home would have lost house (replaceable) pets and maybe people (not replaceable). I understand being frugal. In my opinion; electric and flames are not place to be frugal.
