Circuit breakers

[cloudibew]

Hiya,

So I had a client tell me that the guy she usually does her elec work for minor repairs told her that her breaker had a special reset on the back and had to be pulled to be reset. Now 25yrs in the trade I've seen a LOT but not everything. So just curious has that ever been a thing, ever?

 

[Jraef]

Totally ridiculous concept; every breaker manufacturer I have ever seen will conform to the expectation in the industry that everything can be serviced / adjusted from the front. This indicates that this guy is a scammer in my opinion.

The only thing I have ever seen involving having to remove a breaker is that in older designs, MCCBs that had internal Shunt Trips had to be ordered with them from the factory, because the back of the breaker had to be opened in order to install them and the breaker mfrs did not want people doing that in the field. But STs don't have a "reset" button...

 

[LarryFine]

. . . her breaker had a special reset on the back and had to be pulled to be reset.

Allow me to respond thusly: :rotflmao:

 

[cloudibew]

Thats what I thought. Just wanted to make sure before I told her her guy was an idiot, err mistaken would probably be nicer huh? Lmao

 

[ptonsparky]

The only ‘pull out’ I can think of is when the old Pushmatics wouldn’t reset properly. You would have to ‘pull out’ on the handle, then reset them again. Two poles were tricky to get both sides synchronized at times.

 

[kwired]

Or was a misunderstanding of what had to be pulled out and worked on - maybe not a "circuit breaker"?

 

[norcal]

Perhaps a QO or QOB fusible switch? Although I have only seen them as a QOB.

 

[Jraef]

The only ‘pull out’ I can think of is when the old Pushmatics wouldn’t reset properly. You would have to ‘pull out’ on the handle, then reset them again. Two poles were tricky to get both sides synchronized at times.

But the way you did that was still from the front as I recall (haven't seen a Pushmatic in the wild for decades now), you didn't have to do anything from the BACK of the breaker.

The same would be true for the fused breakers, the fuse was still replaceable from the front.

 

[ptonsparky]

But the way you did that was still from the front as I recall (haven't seen a Pushmatic in the wild for decades now), you didn't have to do anything from the BACK of the breaker.

The same would be true for the fused breakers, the fuse was still replaceable from the front.

The entire problem starts with “So I had a client tell me...”

And Pushmatics are rare, but they are still lurking in the depths of old homes.

 

[Coppersmith]

Thats what I thought. Just wanted to make sure before I told her her guy was an idiot, err mistaken would probably be nicer huh? Lmao

I was thinking either "fraud" or "charlatan". I'm leaning toward charlatan.

 

[drcampbell]

... Pushmatics are rare, but they are still lurking in the depths of old homes.

They're not so rare in & around Detroit, where they used to be manufactured.

I was thinking either "fraud" or "charlatan". I'm leaning toward charlatan.

I always lean toward "lost in translation" until convinced otherwise. I wonder if they're referring to a cartridge-fuse pullout, in which the fuses aren't visible until you remove the handle and turn it over?

Of course, we could spend five days speculating about something that could be answered in five minutes by someone visiting the site.

 

[Jraef]

...Of course, we could spend five days speculating about something that could be answered in five minutes by someone visiting the site.

Hey, jumping to conclusions is my most vigorous form of exercise... :roll: