@alexkerhead

4 months ago

I remember when a breaker went bad in my box. I DID put the wire in the next breaker that was 20A rated. Then got 2 day shipping on a new breaker to pop in immediately(chosing a breaker with a small normal load). That is pure lazy to just keep removing bad breakers and sticking the wire in the next one, even for home DIY work.
I swapped the single for a tandum as well, so WHEN another goes bad eventually, I have a free empty hole to place the wire until a replacement breaker arrives.
Breakers for a bus bar are sooo cheap, there is no excuse for that guy who loaded down breakers.
This person who did that probably doesn't understand the resistance of wire runs, gauge, and contact surface.
My thinking is the whole box should be filled with breakers, even if some are not currently used. Gives a nice way to work around until a breaker can be swapped.

I guess I'm more careful since I have all aluminum wiring in my home. Which would have popped the 3-4 wired breakers from resistance alone with a lamp in one area of the home and a hair dryer in another area. Too much distance on the wiring when added up. Wonder how many times a week these things popped? Just fortunate they didn't fail.

-Your friendly neighborhood antiques restoration specialist. Not an electrician, but I consult an electrician I know before I put the cover back on. Even worked with a 277V system and breakers at a place I worked 15 years. So far even to disassemble and rebuild some breakers with rebuild kits. Old contacts just can't carry the current for 30-40 years without getting carbon buildup, then starts popping easily more and more. Dangerous stuff to put more than one wire into one breaker circuit.
My workshop has a tandum 30A, but the builders ran 2x 12AWG runs parallel off that one. So looks double tapped, but isn't("sort of"). I have them tightly twisted and tightened hard in the 30A tandum. Same way the electrician did it in the 1970s. Amazing to see the thin copper wire and know it is rated the same as the fat aluminum in my home. And I still pickup any NOS aluminum rated outlets and switches. And indeed, I retighten three times when installing anything, since aluminum is famous for box arcing if only tightened once.

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