Quote:
Originally Posted by t walgamuth
I suggest looking on the internet for a complete replacement box of the same design and configuration with low miles on it. I had a breakdown on my old house of the fused panel once and it was a minor miracle it did not start a fire.
I suspect it might be a lot cheaper to replace the antiquated fuse panel with a new box with modern breakers in it than you might imagine. If you can find one with a similar layout it is not hard to change one for the other providing your wires are not too crispy.
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Thanks, Tom. I'll keep an eye out. The wires (and their covering) still seem to be flexible. I had the whole box apart last year when I replaced the two fuse panel for my dryer with two circuit breaker box. That was far less daunting than the prospect of the whole house, though.
I suppose I could/should just bite the bullet and pick up a 6 breaker panel and at least replace that much. I'd still probably wait until it cools off a bit.
I think the biggest issue with the old Edison boxes is that you could screw in any size fuse (unless tamper-proof bases were installed). As folks' electrical needs increased with more and more electronic devises, and blown fuses became a nuisance, it was too easy to replace that 20A with a 30A thus overheating the wiring/insulation. The house was unoccupied for 5 years when I bought it from an older couple 15+ years ago so I'm fairly confident the system hasn't been too over-stressed since they were 20A when we moved in and that's all I've used when replacing them.
That's not to say it shouldn't be upgraded. I'm just looking for a safe stop-gap.