Fuse box in a home built in 72

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Njonescontracting

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Electrical Contractor
Today I found something I've never ran into before. And I have been in alot of homes. Many for the electrical work. And many more to look at as a real estate investor. I have bought and flipped houses over 100 years old and only once have I found a fuse box vs breakers. Obviously I replace them. Today I looked at a home built in 72 (apparently). All the walls were plaster, and the house was on a 60a fuse box. However online info states the fuses were phased out in the 50s. How is this possible? I mean I know that FP and zinsco were all in production in the 70s. And I would still have to replace them. But to me the math just does not make sense. Also, the panel is in the bathroom so we will have to address that issue.

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The government mortgage guarantee programs stopped guaranteeing mortgages on houses that had fuses or less than 100 A services back in the sixties I think. You could still buy the fuses and fuse boxes, you just could not get a government guarantee on the mortgage. if you were not trying for a government guaranteed mortgage back then, you could still have fuses. Curiously, I think K+T wiring was allowed for quite some time after fuse boxes were banned.

There were a lot of houses pre WWII that had 30 Amp fuses for a main. Who would have thought electricity was good for anything other than replacing gas lighting? That is why it used to be common to see wires inside old gas pipes. The wiring needed to go to where the gas light fixtures used to be so it was a convenient way to get the wires where they needed to go.
 
Njonescontracting said:
Thought about it. Haha.. But I'd rather take the dinosaur down and replace it with a new box..that way AHJ dosnt think I'm a total hack

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It is not a hack. just efficient use of something that is already there. If you paint the cover to match the wall it will barely show and not look hacky at all. personally, I would be inclined to screw the cover down so it can't be opened real easily. There are some rules you would need to follow to do this, like running separate neutrals, but it is not a horrible thing to do, and beats tearing up the plaster.
 
petersonra said:
But far more likely to have pennies put behind them
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Well, you can't fix stupid.
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Besides, replacing a breaker with a higher rating is only a little harder and quite a bit safer to do (initially).
 
electrofelon said:
Fully agree Larry. There is absolutely nothing wrong with fuses. Funny how many non-electricians think fuses are a thing of the past and bad.
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As someone who flips houses...it is not a situation of just because if works and it dosnt need to be replaced. It is mostly to make the house more attractive. Especially to younger buyers. We do not cut corners on flips like some do.



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Njonescontracting said:
As someone who flips houses...it is not a situation of just because if works and it dosnt need to be replaced. It is mostly to make the house more attractive. Especially to younger buyers. We do not cut corners on flips like some do.
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Retaining functional systems is not necessarily corner-cutting, and, you're certainly welcome to do as you wish.
 
zbang said:
1872?
With plaster walls (and not in Chicago or NYC) I have a lot of trouble with 1972.
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Just a matter of cost...I would take plaster over drywall every time. It is a far superior wall to drywall. More fire resistant and more sound deadening. In that year it would be a couple of rough coats and a final finish coat of plaster over rock lath. Rock lath, is a very hard board product that is installed on the studs before the plaster coats. Not sure when they stopped using the old wood lath under the plaster. My parents built a house in the mid 50s and it has rock lath under the plaster.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
Just a matter of cost...I would take plaster over drywall every time. It is a far superior wall to drywall. More fire resistant and more sound deadening. In that year it would be a couple of rough coats and a final finish coat of plaster over rock lath. Rock lath, is a very hard board product that is installed on the studs before the plaster coats. Not sure when they stopped using the old wood lath under the plaster. My parents built a house in the mid 50s and it has rock lath under the plaster.
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You could never sell me on plaster. Even just cutting an old work box into plaster is a headache

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LarryFine said:
Retaining functional systems is not necessarily corner-cutting, and, you're certainly welcome to do as you wish.
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My opinion is insurance cost go up with fuses. And with all of the electronic crap we all posses these days. 60a is not ideal.. Plus it is a big selling point when all big ticket items are all new and pretty.

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