I live in a condo and had some flickering lights, I had an electrician over and he found two tabs in the breaker box fried pretty bad. He said I should replace the whole breaker box but I’m wondering why we can’t just move the breaker to a new tab? I appreciate any comments because this is an expensive project.
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Replies
"Can" and "Should" Differ
Listen to your electrician on this one. Moving breakers to a new tab is a temporary fix.
Some panel designs are not very good. The worst ones are no longer in business ... funny how that works! From your description, I'd bet you have a "Zinsco" panel, one of the more flawed designs.
The flaw is that none of the breakers really has a good grip on the bussbars, and there is sure to be other damage. By the time you notice the damage, the breaker is also damaged - and replacement breakers are so expensive that a few new breakers exceeds the priceof a whole new panel with breakers of a different design.
If you have a spare slot, putting a new breaker in that slot is a reasonable fix (do not use the old breaker). You should also inspect the rest of the breakers and tabs.
If you do decide on a replacement and what you have is big enough, you could look into the Cuttler Hammer retrofit panelboards that go in your existing enclosure. This will cut a significant part of the labor.
Definitely don't just move the existing breaker. If the tab is fried then the breaker contact is too, and it needs to be replaced.