Breaker Looses Contact

Any ideas?

Glenn F.

I DOUBT it, or you would have replaced that whole breaker panel by now!

(An "arc fault" starts as a small arc from a poor connection, that won't trip the main breaker, then flares up into a massive arc when air gets ionized from the arc, plus the insulation chars in the area near the arc, and suddenly, the breaker box and service entrance wiring virtually blows up.)

A friend of my B-I-L's had that happen earlier this year, in a pretty new house. He had smelled something warm a time or two, and happened to be at home when the main panel "blew".

He was able to cut the power using a disconnect at the yard pole, and then put the fire out. The fire dept. was called, but the way I heard the story, he had it out when they got there.

If he had not been home, and acted quickly, likely the house would have been a total loss.

Think about that, before continuing to fiddle with the "bad" breaker box.

A 100 Amp box is pretty cheap, compared to what can happen!

For now, I am turning the main breaker off whenever I'm not in the shop. Interestingly, I have not had a problem since my last attempt to fix it. It has worked properly for approx. 3-4 hours.

One thing I neglected to state in my original post is, the problem developed recently after I had to move a few breakers around to make room for a 50 amp breaker for my welder. Prior to that I had years of trouble free service. I have tightened and re-tightened all connections repeatedly.

Glenn FitzGerald

Charles

--->Paul

I'm surprised. I thought Square D set the standard---at least for residential work. Has the quality of their products gone downhill in the last 10 or 15 years, or were they never the product I was led to believe they were?

What brand of residential electrical equipment do you like, let's say money not being an object?

All the best, Stan

Glenn

Yes, by switching breakers, I have replaced the "problem" breaker with a new one and still the problem persists.

Glenn

I'm leaning toward what some others have said - the wiring in the circuit that's failing. It's heating up enough to trip the circuit, but maybe has enough of a chance to cool off, thus allowing the breaker to be reset?

You mentioned lights. Are the bulbs sized properly? (correct wattage) Are any of the fixtures el-cheapo Menards/Home Depot specials? I've seen some of these cheap fixtures get hot and go belly up. (and yes, even start fires)

Maybe try removing bulbs one at a time to see if you can isolate a bad fixture.