main breaker tripping

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

dick621

Member
Location
Emmett, Idaho
Not sure if this is the right place to ask this but here goes. I have an ITE panel in a customers house that the main 200 amp breaker gets hot and trips after several hours. It started last night after a thunder storm. No sign of overheating in panel. Customer said the main breaker is hot when it trips.The last time I had turned off all 220 volt breakers and told her not to use anything she didn't have too. It appears the breaker must be going bad. Plan to replace tomorrow. Anyone have any other ideas as to what problem could be?
 
brian john

brian john

Senior Member
Location
Leesburg, VA
1. Do a fall of potential test. This will locate the thermal condition leading to this thermal magnetic CB tripping?
2. If the problem is in the CB interior replace.
3. If the heat has lead to permanent damage of the connections replace.

And of course this assumes the load does not exceed the CB ratings, which would be unusual in a residence for a main CB.
 
D

dick621

Member
Location
Emmett, Idaho
Problem solved. The prong assembly on the buss bar was loose. One screw was
backed out completely, and the other was loose. Took assembly out, cleaned up and reassembled. Breaker appears ok, but am trying to locate a new one. Supplier says their obsolete , so the search goes on. Thanks for the help.
 
480sparky

480sparky

Senior Member
Location
Iowegia
dick621 said:
Problem solved. The prong assembly on the buss bar was loose. One screw was
backed out completely, and the other was loose. Took assembly out, cleaned up and reassembled. Breaker appears ok, but am trying to locate a new one. Supplier says their obsolete , so the search goes on. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...


Why replace it? It's proven itself to function as designed.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top