Electric panel circuit breaker cover

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Originally Posted by tlnixon

My other house (water was hooked up to it in 1901) was in a very old part of town. A multi-story, house across the street owned by one family for over 100 years was sold when the last old batchelor son passed away. It had an electrical box made of wood, and lined with sheet asbestos. It still had the original single 20 Amp fuse wire that was twisted between two screws and tightened-down. There was a small roll of the fuse wire provided. The only thing they had that was electrical was lights in those days.

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If asbestos wasn't such a health hazard, it would still be used for thousands of things. It's a shame that such a wonderful material can be so bad.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tlnixon

My other house (water was hooked up to it in 1901) was in a very old part of town. A multi-story, house across the street owned by one family for over 100 years was sold when the last old batchelor son passed away. It had an electrical box made of wood, and lined with sheet asbestos. It still had the original single 20 Amp fuse wire that was twisted between two screws and tightened-down. There was a small roll of the fuse wire provided. The only thing they had that was electrical was lights in those days.

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That type of panel predated the light socket type screw in fuses that everyone thought it was such a good idea to place a copper penny under the blown fuse so they could burn their house down.
These ceramic wire fuses were common to be found either encased in a wooden panel or simply mounted on the wall often in a barn as well
Attachment 45723
These panels were safe enough as long as no one put a penny under the blown fuse
Attachment 45724
Knob and tube wiring can still be found in older homes
Attachment 45725

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax1fmLA9iDA

[QUOTE=Frank S;224867]Thes past few days with the temperatures hovering in the triple digits have found me taking advantage of the 24000 BTU AC unit I mounted in the end wall of my machine shop van. After installing a 20Amp 240 plug for it I ran a few pieces of conduit, added several more quadplex 120v outlets a strip plug under the shelf above my Mill table work bench and a light, Then I noticed I had added as many circuit breakers in the service panel as it could hold but I had somehow lost the breaker cover it was a salvaged panel to begin with so I may have never had it. I have been wiring more and more circuits in it for years and never bothered to look for it. So now that I am done with adding more circuits to that panel I made a cover I didn't care if it was fancy just something to prevent someone "ME", from accidently reaching in without thinking and getting shocked. Getting shocked by 120 or 240 usually doesn't bother me too terribly but if I happened to be sweaty or well-grounded that would be a different story.
Here is my cover made out of 20 ga steel
Attachment 45649
Now it just needs a little gray paint which I am out of currently
Attachment 45650 Absolutely brilliant!!!