If You Where The Inspector

[ultramegabob]

............

 

[augie47]

Give me a break will ya, I was trying to be nice.

you should know better

(omg! no offense, Pierre. just poor attempt at levity.. I must have found the alcohol in Bob's truck)

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

you should know better

(omg! no offense, Pierre. just poor attempt at levity.. I must have found the alcohol in Bob's truck)

Augie
I have learned to not take it personal here, have at it. I dish it out, I should be able to take it as well.

"what is good for the goose is good for the gander"

 

[frizbeedog]

Ditto (I need 10 characters...)

No .

 

[mdshunk]

i am just curious, do the contractors who use the re-use old breakers as a sales pitch to save money to get the job, also tell the owner the possible dangers of re-using a circuit breaker that the contractor does not know the history of those circuit breakers

You're under the very mistaken impression that there's some sort of inherent danger in re-installing existing circuit breakers onto a new panelboard bus. You'd be hard pressed to find any documentation to back that up. The existence of a testing procedure is not, in itself, a requirement that such testing even need be performed.

 

[mpd]

marc

I do not believe I am under any mistaken impression, it just does not make sense to me to upgrade a service & panel and re-use old breakers, with that said, what do you tell the owner if they ask you about the old breakers being safe?

 

[mdshunk]

I do not believe I am under any mistaken impression, it just does not make sense to me to upgrade a service & panel and re-use old breakers, with that said, what do you tell the owner if they ask you about the old breakers being safe?

You are an employee, right?

 

[brother]

interesting thread. I have to say i have reused old circuit breakers before, but come to think of it it was an old existing panel and instead of having to put in a new panel I went to an electrical warehouse and used the old ones. they did not make these breakers anymore so its good i found the old breaker.

I personally do not see a problem with using a old breakers with the new panel, that being said, i really dont see a big cost difference in buying all new breakers. $100 extra at the most residential. Homeline is pretty cheap.

 

[iwire]

what do you tell the owner if they ask you about the old breakers being safe?

Not speaking for Marc, but I would simply say there is no reason to think they are not safe.

If you would like me to replace them I will be glad to for more $.

I have never done a service change without using new breakers, that said I do agree with Marc, there are many budgets and there is no need to be locked into one way of doing things. I also believe any improvement is better then no improvement if the price keeps them from doing anything.

 

[mpd]

marc

i do not understand your response,

iwire

I agree if that is the situation and any improvement will make it safer

 

[kkwong]

I also believe any improvement is better then no improvement if the price keeps them from doing anything.

Well said, Bob.

I have never had a customer ask me if their old breakers were safe or not. Unless I see something that bothers me, pitting, heat discoloration or a problem on the bus where I removed the breaker, I feel its just as safe as either that new breaker I'm putting in or that reconditioned/rebuilt breaker I picked up.

 

[radiopet]

How about actually taking the time Bob to read the VA-USBC....112.4 instead of trying to make the NEC relavent for everything.

Some things are ABOVE the NEC you know...

Simply poor taste to do a service change ( which is where we started going on this in my posts ) and use old breakers....while the client thinks they are getting a new upgrade....all for what....a few bucks.....please....use UL Classified Breakers if you want to save a BUCK....now if you want to use them in your "industrial" environment that more than not is hardly inspected then go for it.....but not for a paying client.....

Just an opinion.....take it or leave it.

Maybe the " Building Official" just may have no problem with the cabinet and other things....and then again maybe they wont and would like NEW jobs to have NEW product being used in the jobs......is that too hard of a concept to grasp maybe?????

 

[iwire]

How about actually taking the time Bob to read the VA-USBC....112.4

I have not been responding about that section at all.

I put up a post about panels and cabinets, then you brought up that local code, so I dropped it. Local rule, fine knock yourself out.

I have been talking with Pierre but as he is from NY I did not see the need for me to learn about VA-USBC....112.4.

instead of trying to make the NEC relevant for everything.

What was I thinking, using the NEC in an NEC forum. :smile:

Simply poor taste to do a service change ( which is where we started going on this in my posts ) and use old breakers....while the client thinks they are getting a new upgrade....

If the question is about ripping off the customer then my answer would be NO, don't do it.

But the NEC answer is that I can reuse breakers and would do so and the customer would be aware of it.

now if you want to use them in your "industrial" environment that more than not is hardly inspected then go for it.....but not for a paying client.....

Not sure what your trying to say there, we hope all of our clients are paying.

 

[radiopet]

FYI - the USBC is not a little local thing..lol

My comments are on the expanded topic......we got into talking about breakers and the like and i was just explaining ( if you read my first post in this thread)....that if a inspector has a problem with older equipment in VA they can go to the USBC for clarification....nothing more.

Ahhhhh.......Yeah I know it is NEC fella....just so happens now and then we have to raie above it..

 

[POWER_PIG]

Bring it on. If someone is committing a crime, you can bet I would do something. Of course I would have to have evidence.

I can't believe you would let a fellow person get ripped off. What if it was your neighbor or your mother?

Like the man said,,,,,, IT aint your business to deem what is or what aint a good deal when it comes to the money exchanged and the product rendered...............An inspector is there to enforce the NEC, not to be the BBB police for cring out loud!

 

[iwire]

FYI - the USBC is not a little local thing..lol

What does the 'VA' you had in front of it mean?

 

[mpd]

if anywhere in the title the words inspector or inspector failed me is posted, it starts a landslide of responses, maybe everybody should include that in there title so everybody responds

 

[radiopet]

lol....The VA was just what Virginia includes when they refer to the adopted USBC. In many training courses we refer to it as VA-USBC which just denotes its Virginia along with their modifications.

Never wanted to derail the NEC....just wanted to comment on what a Inspector may use in regards to used equipment....not withstanding good judgement but Electricians also need to know many statewide laws are above the NEC....and Used Equipment is one of those items....nothing more Bob.

 

[sandsnow]

Like the man said,,,,,, IT aint your business to deem what is or what aint a good deal when it comes to the money exchanged and the product rendered...............An inspector is there to enforce the NEC, not to be the BBB police for cring out loud!

Like I said I agree up to a point. That point is where a crime is being committed. I don't care if you knowingly paid $15,000 dollars for a new 100amp service that is worth $1500. If you are charging for new breakers and installing old breakers that is a crime. IF IF IF IF I find out I will take action. I DO NOT go poking around. If some little old lady whom I just failed shows me her bid for new breakers and cannot understand why she failed (because the old breakers were the wrong type), then we got a problem.

 

[MF Dagger]

I reuse old breakers when needed. I also have 2 or 3 five gallon pails of 15/20 amp fuses. All of which came from panel change outs. I'll use the fuses too on service calls. I have old xo breakers and I have old QO's. America has become so wasteful it's disgusting. I'll use old connectors and couplings where appropriate and I'll use old 4 squares too. Some of the uglier ones just get used in uglier spots. The attic doesn't care that the box is used and neither do I. I don't reuse wire and I don't reuse anything I feel is junk. I will say that on a new panel or a swap 75% of the time it's all new breakers. However running a new circuit to an older panel usually gets an older breaker. The panel doesn't care. For that matter half the time it could be used or it could be new, I don't really know. They all ride in the same drawer in the truck and unless it's in the box I don't know or care.