Bad stab

Status
Not open for further replies.

guschash

Senior Member
Location
Ohio
if there is just one bad stab in a panel does the code require replacing the whole panel? If so what would be the code article this would be under? Can you just not use that stab and just in a blank cover over the space. Thanks Gus
 

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
IMO just don't use that stab. I've seen bolt-on panels with a screw broken off in the bus or the hole cross threaded and unusable that doesn't mean the entire panel needs replacement.
 

James L

Senior Member
Location
Kansas Cty, Mo, USA
Occupation
Electrician
At my son's school there is a 16 space panel that has 11 breakers and 7 blanks. I opened it up to look because gymnasium lights were flickering.

Bus was burned and pitted at that breaker, so I looked at unused spaces and they were all the same. Good grief, somebody's been doing the breaker shuffle for a long time....:huh:

It's well past time for a panel change
 

guschash

Senior Member
Location
Ohio
Thanks that is what i thought just not use that space. Its a 200A panel and that is the only space that is bad. But I just wanted to check.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
At my son's school there is a 16 space panel that has 11 breakers and 7 blanks. I opened it up to look because gymnasium lights were flickering.

Bus was burned and pitted at that breaker, so I looked at unused spaces and they were all the same. Good grief, somebody's been doing the breaker shuffle for a long time....:huh:

It's well past time for a panel change
They likely just moved the breaker which needed replaced and it just started working on the next spot it was installed at.

Sometimes if there is enough heat, other areas of same bus are effected.

In a dwelling you often just see one pole that is effected, in other then dwellings where there may be significant continuous loads I have seen multiple poles that are compromised, even though just one of them may be the culprit that started everything.
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
They likely just moved the breaker which needed replaced and it just started working on the next spot it was installed at.

Sometimes if there is enough heat, other areas of same bus are effected.

In a dwelling you often just see one pole that is effected, in other then dwellings where there may be significant continuous loads I have seen multiple poles that are compromised, even though just one of them may be the culprit that started everything.
In the bad old IT days of removable hard disk packs a head crash would happen occasionally, damaging both the head and the disk.
A naive business user would then proceed to try another disk pack in the damaged drive and the damaged disk pack in another drive until nothing remained usable.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top