understanding old fuse panels 

I completely agree. I have no issue with knob and tube, and if I got an old house with it in good shape I would certainly leave it. I would think it would generate LESS heat than modern cable, it is the same size wire and it is separate instead of all the conductors closely packed in one jacket, so the insulation thing wouldn’t concern me, but I would not want insulation over it just for insurance reasons if something were to happen because they look for every excuse to NOT cover you. I don’t just not dislike knob and tube, but I actually like it, it has already and will continue to last longer than the modern stuff, and it was put in with pride, not just some wires shoved in the wall. I would love to see the modern plastic stuff in 100 years, some of the earlier NM cable with plastic insulated wires is already causing issues with the insulation breaking down and since the wires are together, they can short easily. Even if knob and tube had no insulation, it still wouldn’t short or likely cause any issues.

Glad you found it helpful.

glad you found the video helpful.

No problem. I am so very glad to have been helpful.

Correct. Properly maintained vintage service equipment is just as safe or safer than modern stuff is a lot of the time. The only failures these panels will have are due to human error. Sadly humans these days are quite unreliable

@@WalterKnoxAll intentional. Bureaucrats run all American schools. Etiquette, phonics, AP History and writing cursive are just a few of the things that have been taken out of the curriculum.

​@@KratostheThirdTeaching cursive does not matter. Critical thinking does.

@@livejay9062 I’m telling you how it is.

glad you found it helpful,

2 new panels just replace with one larger panel . I used a 12 space panel on the one bedroom house in the mountains I also used an eight space outdoor panel which holds the 100 amp main the 50 amp range and the 20 amp pump breakers. the last breaker is a 70 amp main for another sub panel. which is for the central heat and air. the dryer and water heater are inside for convenience. I turn off the water heater when I don't need hot water but a timer is going to be installed later. bottom line the indoor panel has a few mini breakers but if you wire up to the new code AFCI breakers take up one space, there are no mini AFCI that I'm aware of. 73

Yeah, the house I removed this from both of the wires were white as opposed to black, so still couldn’t tell polarity. It was all in good shape and not crumbling or all jacked up.

@@frankpaya690 people are taught to be overly scared of things.

A fuse panel like this with just the main cartridge fuses could've been used in a home, or apartment, that had or was to have a gas range. Very early on an electric range was pretty much the only large 220 volt appliance that would require cartridge fuses. If there was a gas range and they didn't anticipate it getting replaced with an electric one they probably didn't feel the need to install a panel with a Range pullout. I don't see it on this panel's diagram, but most fuse panels had taps, or subfeed lugs under the main fuses that could could tap off of and add another appliance or subpanel for additional circuits. This would come directly off the main. Usually in a main only panel like this, the subfeed lugs are between the main and plug fuses. For a small home or apartment, with all major gas or propane appliances and either no A/C, or room air conditioners or a maybe a small central unit, 60 amp could be fine but you still need more circuits to distribute the loads and this panel has no room for expansion.

@@Progrocker70 I run central air, an electric water heater and electric range off of 60 amps just fine, as long as the limits of this old stuff is regarded and it is a small home with a relatively small load it is normally fine. The whole upgrading to a new panel or upgrading your main service is just a big thing the insurance companies use to scare you. The main fire hazard is bad wiring, but I would much rather have a fuse panel than a federal pacific panel (which we also have) but you are correct, the main issue is the lack of circuits in a panel like this one, which is why I find that the service is often upgraded with a new main panel and the old fuse panel reduced to just a 60 amp sub panel, and new circuits added separately to the main panel. As for being able to run a sub panel off the one shown in the video I don’t see revisions anywhere for that. I have more standard panels with the regular 4 branch circuits and the range block, I should have probably demonstrated one of those instead, but I used what I had handy at the time.

@@Progrocker70 I should also mention that we do have has heat and the central air is rarely if ever run and we just cool two rooms with window units, I have never actually tripped the main 60 amp breaker (it is an FPE stablok so I don’t even know if it would) but I am sure it would not be too hard.

@@WalterKnox I think it would depend on the size of the central A/C unit, some require only a 15 amp while others require a 50 amp 220 volt circuit. A small unit or one with an inverter or a mini split isn't gonna consume that much power. A stove is considered a 40-50 amp appliance but that would only be with all of the burners on and the oven on as well, all heating at the same time.

@@Progrocker70 yeah, that is why when looking at ratings things are not always as they seem.

Glad you found it helpful, definitely check that out... a 30 amp fuse should only be used if the wire is 10 gauge or larger!

@@WalterKnox how would I bee able to identify the gauge size? Thanks again. When I was younger, I remember seeing orange fuses. Not anymore.

@@johnnykurplutzo6789 25 amp fuses I believe are green... Orange is 20 amps... It is sort of difficult to determine the wire size... You could try putting in a 20 and seeing if it blows or not, chances are if it does not then a 20 is just fine. if it blows then you may be overloading the circuit if the case really is that a 20 belongs there... the best thing to do in that case would to be to have someone check it out and tell you what size fuse goes where.

Okay, first off... if all of your twist in (round) fuses are of the 30 amp variety, it is likely that someone was having issues with the fuses blowing and put those in place of whatever was there originally. So I would probably recommend getting that looked at unless you know for a fact that the wire they are powering is the correct size to handle 30 amps, because if the wire is not able to handle 30 amps, that is a fire hazard. Looking up that model panel, it does appear to be a 60 amp panel. One thing to remember is that the main disconnect is not going to be the total amperage of all of the fuses added up, there is a thing called a demand factor, basically not everything is on all the time, so we only calculate for a percentage of that load called a demand factor, this is where the main service amperage comes from. Once again that is assuming that all of the fuses should be 30 amps, which I would be surprised if they were. But to answer your question, the main disconnect should be 60 amps. It is most likely This part but don't quote me on that (It looks identical to the one in the panel I was showing in this video, but there is no part number or anything on it) www.ebay.com/itm/175378638408?hash=item28d561a648:g:e1QAAOSwd9tg1lO8&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsNxgxXVFa%2FpEi1l4iwMDzBTR7Vi1pJK%2FqfWs%2BDfV6NXzvksdfzZbcWjgef%2BDVVblMiFxod90j%2BVyrOZWiFxVcFmMlvgouQiH%2BALQADFAjh7fazXE%2FPRElZOQ6YLB9PGUbBomov1JLhLuzR8%2BSuYTPw3KOfJucFQmKLwddJf4kbRFTft66JJ9eU0HEclFdoNcb9CBcAQ%2F599Im2OkDweCZyQ%2FWqZU%2Ftq0KiK8nbX5vp8G%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9zD2ZyEYQ

if the subpanel is a breaker panel it was likely installed at a later date, if it is a fuse panel, it could have been at the same time, i can't say for sure. most likely if more than one circuit have died at the same time it is one of the main cartridge fuses, but it is easy to tell if the little twist in fuses are blown by just looking at them, if they have a little black spot, or the link is broken inside, it is blown. if not then it is likely okay. you could try switching your two cartridge fuses around and seeing if stuff that was not working before is after switching them, if so then it is a cartridge fuse, if not then it is multiple of the smaller ones.

what do you mean by test the panel? what fuses are blowing, the main 60 amp ones in the cartridge, or the little screw in ones? the panel is most likely not your issue, you are likely drawing too much current on one or more circuits or you have a wiring fault somewhere else.

if you look at the little window on the fuses themselves you can see a little metal link, if the fuse is blown then it will be broken, if it is not then it is still good. it sounds to me like the issue you are having is either with the wiring somewhere or the fixture itself, i would say 90 percent of the time the outlets and lighting (in this case your fan) are all on the same circuit for one room, if not all the lighting for several areas are on one circuit. the fan would not be on it's own circuit, so if it were an issue with the panel or a fuse in the panel then there would be other things on the same circuit that do not work as well. is this something that just randomly happened one day or have you been noticing any issues like flickering lights or anything like that? also, have you had any work to any outlets or anything else electrical done? if you have it is likely that some wire has come unhooked as well. one more thing to ask, do you have just one switch on the wall for the fan and the light, then you use a pull chain on the fan itself, or do you have 2 switches on the wall for the fan and the light?

When it first turns on, and the lights dim for a second and then return back to normal, that is fine as an air conditioner just takes a lot of power to start. If they flicker for anything more than a second, or they stay dimmer then too much power is being pulled. In which case a fuse will blow, so as long as the lights only briefly dim when the unit is first turned on, and the fuse does not blow, that is completely normal.

yep, them, FPE, zinsco and pushmatic are the worst. but we will likely go over all of those in another video

Is is a screw in type fuse socket or a cartridge? You have a poor connection somewhere... most likely either the fuse socket where it connects to the fuse, or maybe the wire is loose on the screw. Is there any obvious black marks or anything melted or looks like it is rusted or got hot?

yeah... they are not dangerous in themselves, but with only 4 circuits like alot of them had they were very easy to overload, then people put in larger fuses and even coins which is even worse, that is when the issues happen.

at this point they are obsolete, but i would still rather have one over a federal pacific stab-lok panel any day

@@WalterKnox I found your channel because of a comment you made on a video about testing federal pacific breakers. You mentioned about how you made a tester to check each breaker in the panel. I would really be interested in a video where you showcase the tester. I am definitely going to make one of those tester. Thanks, Kevin

@@kmtischer absolutely, it is pretty simple and that is one of the things I have on the list of things that I need to make videos on.

@@WalterKnox Thanks man, I subscribed so I will keep an eye out for it.

I actually just uploaded to my channel a video of the set up at my place ... I took the 60 tubes out to test that’s why they are not in the box. Any ideas why no power here?? Or how I can reset this?

I just saw this comment(THANKS RU-vid), sorry. I will look when I get home.

It is probably in a cartridge, and is one of the two fuses which has failed. If not and it is a plug fuse for some reason, you can see the little metal link is broken through the small window that have.

Steel tubed wire? are you talking about BX wire (flexible) or conduit (like a pipe)? Either way, if it is in good shape then it should be fine.

Without seeing your exact panel and how it is set up, I cannot really tell you for sure as there are many different designs. Is it a cartridge fuse, and are you having issues pulling out the cartridge fuse holder, or the fuses themself?

Glad it was helpful!

yes, a GFCI outlet is always a good thing to install no matter what type of panel you have. if your wiring is 2 wire with no ground it is even better idea to install a GFCI outlet at the beginning of each circuit as that way it is up to code to install regular 3 prong outlets down stream.

this one is most likely from the 60s as it is a bit more modern in construction to some of the old panels I have seen. But I am not sure as I have never researched it.

What you have is probably a 100 or 150 amp panel. What you have is a more modern version of a fuse panel, I believe they were still installed until around mid '70s. Usually with those Wadsworth panels three of the pullout blocks are for 220 volt appliances and the other one is a main for the plug fuse circuits

Replacing any fuse with a fuse larger is definitely not a good idea. You can find out what size wire it is if you know what you are looking at, but chances are if it is older (which it would be if you have this type panel), it won’t clearly say what size it is. It is just something you learn from doing electric work, you know what size a wire is by looking at it, but if you can’t do that, or you don’t know exactly what you are doing, in which case I would NOT recommend opening up a panel as there are many parts that can kill you. If would have someone look at it and see what size wires they are, and then install “s adapters” which will make it so only the correct size can be used. You could also just put 15 amp fuses in all of the sockets, and if they blow quickly put in a 20, but that is definitely not the best idea. Either way, 30 amp fuses are rarely used in home applications aside from dryers and water heaters.

@@WalterKnox wow. I appreciate you so much. Thank you. You might have saved my life.

the two with a button in the center are mini-breakers, they are basically fuses that can be reset if they trip. the glass ones are the old style one time use fuse. each fuse does one circuit, so in this case there would be 4 circuit there, so if you unscrew all 4 of them and the power stays on, then power is coming from somewhere else besides from that panel.

most likely 240. each fuse would be 120 and you have a neutral.

Count the conductors coming into the panel.

without opening the panel up and seeing what size wire is attached to each circuit it is hard. what you could do is unscrew each fuse and see what it is powering, so when the fuse is unscrewed the power will turn off to whatever it is powering, if it is normal outlets it is most likely a 20, if it is lights it is most likely a 15. for an appliance it is most likely a 20 as well, 30 amp fuses are hardly ever used. the best thing to do would probably be to call an electrician so they can look at the wire size and determine what size fuse goes in what slot. then they could insert what is called an S adapter into the slots, that will make it so that only the correct size fuse will fit and nobody can put in the wrong size fuse.

@@WalterKnox thank you so much for the information! I’ve been going crazy trying to figure it out since the fuses seem to blow often and each slot has a completely different fuse and I don’t want to attach the wrong one and cause issues before moving in! I’ll find an electrician, thank you!

@@NessacxBeauty yeah, that is probably the best bet. if too small of a fuse is used it will constantly blow, but if too large of a fuse is used and it really should be blowing but it is not because it is too big that is even worse. so just get an electrician to figure out what sizes are used and install S adapters so the wrong ones can no longer be installed. it is a very easy task and should not cost too much and it is worth it to ensure nothing will be on fire.

@@WalterKnox appreciate it! Will work on this ASAP ❤️

General rule is there should be no 30 amp fuses (usually green colored) in there feeding anything. 30's are only used for things like water heaters, dryers and A/C units. Nearly all lighting circuits in these are 15 amp, kitchen receptacle circuits are 20 amp.

Rewiring is likely not needed. People are afraid of old wiring and like to rip it out just because it is old, sadly this is what most electricians will want you to do. However, knob and tube wiring has not been used since the 30s, so if the building is from 1976, it isn't knob and tube. Altghough your description of "not working" is very vague, so I can't give you a precise answer. Not that I could over the internet anyway.

It is possible... I am guessing you do not have two electric meters on your house? used to, in some areas they would put the water heater on a meter of it's own and charge a lower rate for it as a way to get people to go over to electric. It is possible that maybe this was the case at one point, and someone removed the meter for the water heater, and just ran the wire into the main meter box. If that is the case, that is not up to code as you are not supposed to have two things under one lug. Also, unless it is a Tankless water heater, or a huge water heater, 50A seems a bit overkill. most of them are around 30A

@@WalterKnox No sir I do not have two meters. I just went and double checked and both the main panel and the smaller breaker box are Cutler Hammer. The breaker box label reads Cat. No. XO-2 50Amp 120v A-C or 120/240v-AC And it does have the same size wire coming into the breaker as it does the main. I'm thinking it could be 6awg. Anyway it has 3 wires coming in and also a separate ground. What I don't understand is that according to the courthouse and deed the house was built in 1954. The label on the inside cover of the main panel is dated March 1956. Now it looks like it would have to have had a different main panel at one point.

Sorry, RU-vid has decided that it is nolonger going to notify me wen I get new replies. yeah, I doubt that it took two years to finish building a house. I am not sure about that then, It seems weird that someone would have replaced a panel that early on... As for your hot water thing, I am not sure. It is hard to tell... there has to be somewhere before the main breaker it is either tapped into or spliced into, I would not worry about it though as long as it has it's own disconnect.

@@WalterKnox in relationship to where the meter is on the outside of the house where the main panel and the separate breaker are located inside the house there is only a distance of 6-9 feet between the two. The incoming wires for both are the exact same size. Just had an idea. The place behind the main panel and the breaker is a closet. The back wall of the closet almost lines up perfect with the outside meter. I'm thinking they probably ran the main line or lines from the meter through the back closet wall to the main panel and the breaker. I cant see them taking the wires up into the attic and back down through the wall. It would've been so convenient to run it straight through wall. I'll end up taking out the back wall it's only sheetrock

if it is damaged, which it sounds like it is, it is either going to need to be repaired or replaced, but good luck finding parts for a panel that is at least 50 years old. Sadly, if it is not easily fixable it will need to be replaced. But I cannot say for sure without being there.

@@WalterKnox thank you so much for responding,

okay.

It depends on skill level. Easy as in just look at it without doing anything, no. You have to either remove the panel cover on the fuse panel, and look at the wire to see what size it is, or open up the receptacle box, pull out the receptacle and then look at the wire to tell what gauge it is. Either way, it won't say clearly anywhere, you just have to kind of know what you are looking at to tell the size.

If it is just a regular fuse that is broken off in the socket, you need to remove the main fuses and make sure the power is off, then you can carefully remove it with something like a pair of needle nose pliers.

I looked it up and it appears that P and GP are the same, they are both non time delay fuses, meaning if there is over current they will open almost immediately as opposed to a GT fuse which is a time delay, and will take a few seconds to open. So you should be perfectly fine interchanging the two. As long as you are staying with the correct amperage which in this case you would be.

The lightsjust go on and off sometimes so I turn them all off and I am unplugging appliances and not using all at once

First off, if the lights are flickering or anything, you have another issue not related to fuses being the incorrect size. There may not be a circuit breaker anywhere, it isn't uncommon for older houses to have one fuse panel that controls everything int he house. As for adding up to 60, it isn't that simple. Power comes in on two lines, and there is a neutral in the middle. There is 60 amps PER LEG, which means you can have more then 60 amps in total. However, it is likely not right if there are mostly 25 and 30 amp fuses, but you cannot just assume that, more likely than not, if there are larger fuses where a smaller one should be, they were put there because the fuse kept blowing, so someone put a larger one in. This is dangerous and should be taken care of, but it is also possible that the fuses are powering a circuit that really is designed for that much current, you really need to know what is on the circuit and what size wire it is before you start switching things around. It sounds to me like you need to have an electrician come out and at very least inspect the panel to tell you what size fuses you need to have where. They could install "S adapters" which will make it so only the correct size fuses will fit. They also should look at that issue with your lights because I really could not tell you anything over the internet, but it doesn't sound good.

@@WalterKnox thank you so much for answering. I kind of figured it out even when I was asking the question that it wasn’t that simple as changing out the fuses I will have to ask the landlord who I am having a contentious relationship with right now as he is making me a room move and selling my house. He lives downstairs and like I said, I think the box with the breakers is in the basement. It’s a really old house like almost 100 years old I think. The lights have now stopped flickering, because I keep on unplugging things not in use, and when I use an appliance, I am unplugging turn off everything else. I think it’s mainly the air conditioners that are causing problems so like I said, turned off all the lights unplugged everything obviously can’t unplug the refrigerator. I think the hot water heater is also unplugged. I don’t have hot water so as you can see, I have a host of problems that cannot be explained over the Internet. I need help, but I’m going to have to see how I can fix the relationship with the landlord/stepfather first I guess.

look through the little window or glass on the fuse, there is a small metal strip inside of them. if the metal strip is in one piece it is not blown, if the metal strip is broken then it is blown. also, if the little window is blackened then it is blown.

@@WalterKnox thank you very much I appreciate it

It sounds like you need an electrician to come look at it. Most likely if multiple fuses have blown, you have an issue with the dryer or something pulling too much current and not an issue with the panel. There is no such thing as a device "pulling" voltage. The voltage is 220 no matter what, that is just the voltage being supplied to the dryer. It "pulls" amps, which should be under 30.

@@WalterKnox This was done by an electrician🤷 but he wanted a ridiculous amount to replace the panel and then said it could keep happening if it's the dryer so now I'm completely confused 😕

@@WalterKnox When he stuck the multimeter in the plug it was 218 volts, turned on the dryer and said it was 226 volts... I know nothing about electrical so just looking for another opinion.

@@forterierocks Okay. I think I understand. Yeah, I cannot say for sure without being there to look at it, but if I were you, I would have another electrician from another company come look at it. I see no reason why the whole panel would need to be replaced unless it is physically damaged or something, but it doesn't really sound like it. I don't see how the voltage would go up when the dryer is on, if anything it would go down slightly, but not that much. My guess would be that for some reason the dryer is pulling too much current. It sounds to me like they were just trying to sell you something. To properly diagnose if it is the dryer pulling too much current, they would need to measure that amperage the dryer is using, and not the voltage being supplied to it. It seems like people these days have been conditioned to be scared of anything old like a fuse panel, and sadly a lot of electricians and people in general try to profit off of that. If the panel is in okay shape and is working as it should, There is really no reason for it to be replaced. One thing to look at is the fuse socket, remove both fuses for the dryer and look inside the socket (do not touch) for any rust or corrosion. If there is no rust or corrosion, it is likely not the panel, there really is not much to go wrong there.

Fuse panels and breaker panels both do the same thing. If there is a circuit drawing too much current, or a short circuit somewhere, they will stop current flow to that circuit. Fuses have a small thin metal strip inside that melts after a certain amount of current runs through it, once it melts, current cannot flow through it anymore. A circuit breaker on the other hand uses a metallic strip, which holds a spring loaded mechanism in position, when it heats up from too much current, the metallic strip will bend slightly, and the mechanism will move into the tripped position. This will not allow current to flow. The main difference is the obvious one, which is that when a fuse blows, you have to replace it with a new one. But when a breaker trips, you can just flip it back on and it will continue working. The main reason why people say breakers are safer than fuses is that the old fuse panels allowed you to use the wrong size fuse, so if you had a circuit designed for 15 amps, and the fuse kept blowing because you were drawing too much current, you could put in a 20 or even a 30 amp fuse and it would work the same. This is dangerous because if the wire is only designed to run 15 amps, it will overheat and can start a fire. When you replace a fuse, you also have to be very careful as it exposed live metal parts that will shock you if you touch them. One thing a lot of people don't realize though, is that a fuse will blow faster than a breaker will trip in the case of an over current fault. Fuses are not inherently more dangerous than breakers, and in many cases are safer. If they are used properly, and the correct fuses are used they are perfectly safe. I didn't get into magnetic trip breakers, or AFCI or GFCI breakers as those are more recent developments. If you want to know more about those, you can do some research. There are many types of breakers, so I just mentioned the standard ones like what would have replaced an old fuse box in the 60s.

yeah, i hear that alot. i think it really depends on the insurance company or where you are located. we sold a house like 3 years ago with 60 amp service for the whole house and a fuse panel, had no problems with that, the guy got a loan and insurance on the house just fine, and we knew him and the house had the same panel up until he passed away and his sister sold the house and it still had the same panel then as well, i am unsure if it still does. the house we have now has 100 amp service, but it has a federal pacific main panel for the big things like the heat and the water heater, and we have a sub-panel in the house which is a fuse panel that does everything inside. we have never had an issue when buying the house or getting insurance on that. they sent a guy out to inspect everything, he did note that we had an old fuse panel and he said everything was in good shape and should be perfectly fine. of course he did recommend replacement of the federal pacific panel, which is something we are eventually going to do.

@@WalterKnox it seems to depend on who the buyer is. Even though Ontario, Canada where the real estate market is very heated removal of all remaining knob and tube is a common condition of sale.

@@robertsitch1415yeah. people are afraid of things i guess. as long as you respect the limitations of this old stuff including knob and tube wiring, if it is in good shape it is perfectly safe to continue using.

@@WalterKnox it's mostly done because few insurance companies want to cover it and in my area most of it was installed in homes about 90 to 100 years ago so it's seldom in great condition.

@@WalterKnox another reason why it depends upon the buyer a lot of the time is that most people want to gut a kitchen that is more than a few decades old and not well layed out so that requires new circuits. Another reason why a new 200 amp service is likely to be installed before or shortly after the war sale is if the new owner wants a hot tub or mabey an EV charging station.

Yes, taking the fuse out does the same thing as turning off the breaker in that there is no current flowing through the circuit it is connected to and it is completely off. The only issue with leaving the slot empty is that the socket itself is still live, so if someone were to stick a finger, or anything else in there, they could get shocked. If it is only temporary, it would likely be fine, but if you are removing it permanently, you may want to try to find a blown fuse or something to block off the socket. Although you would want to make sure everyone knows the reason the fuse is blown so they don't try to replace it with a new one.

@@WalterKnox thank you sir, I will replace all fuses with screw in breakers.

@@user-fn9cs4dv8rJust a heads up, those screw in "mini-breakers" don't give you an option to manually turn them off. They just have a "reset" button for when they trip. If you want the power off, you still have to physically remove them.

Someone who has been doing electrical for a while can tell just by looking at them and see what size they are. Although if you haven't there are other ways. if you have newer wiring which is standard romex like today, which is unlikely if you have an old fuse panel. It will say right on it and it is also color coded. White jacket is 14, yellow is 12, and orange is 10. If you have older wire then it can be hard to tell, it may still say on the jacket somewhere if it is a cable. If it is knob and tube then it is safe to assume that it should be on a 15 amp fuse either way. I believe you can also get a wire size gauge.

If you look into the little glass window of the fuse, there should be a little metal link. if it is broken, the fuse is blown. replace it.

@@WalterKnox Thx for quick reply…. I checked and fuse was good. Where should I look next ? Cold on Christmas Eve lol.

@@arch5578 okay, so you say that you have no power on 3 different fuses and they are all okay? Have you checked your main fuses if you have them? They are in a cartridge that should say something like "main". If one of those is out, half of your circuits won't work. What you could do is remove both fuses from the cartridge, and then switch them around. So that way, if one if blown, it will be on the other side. Then, when you put them back in, the circuits that weren't working before should be working, but other ones won't. But if this is the case, you know the fuse is blown, so you will just have to go get a new one (and if that is the case, I would get 2 new ones and just replace them both)

If that still isn't the case, it is most likely something has failed. I am not sure of the exact way your panel is set up, but it could be a bad connection that failed, or a burned wire, or something as simple as a loose screw. Either way, if that is the case, I can't really help to diagnose it over the internet.

That is bot something that is standard or could be bought at a store like Lowe’s or Menards. You have to have the correct one for your exact panel, best bet would be to look it up on eBay and see what you can find.

Yep. the only way a fuse will ever fail is open, they don't get welded shut or stuck like breakers (even good brands) do . Knob and tube is great if in good shape, but many are afraid of it. People just see that things are old and think that they are bad, most of the times that is not the case, and many times is opposite from the truth. if in good shape, old wiring is perfectly safe as long as you know and respect it's limitations and work around them in a safe way. Yeah, FPE sucks. I am lucky enough to have one of those things on my house and I have had a few dead shorts. I have never had one fail to trip, but have seen them where I feel they took too long to trip. Although at a friends house I have seen a dead short with an extension cord that got closed in the door, and it melted and did not trip at all, so it certainly happens. On a side note, My grandfather was switching out a light switch for a ceiling fan one time and the wire shorted to the metal box with his screwdriver (yeah, he was doing the work live) it gave a nice spark, but was only an instant. The breaker did not trip... About 10 minutes later after everything was done, the lights went out. The breaker had about a 10 minute delayed reaction to the short. That was a Zinsco panel. You don't any see issues like this with a fuse.

@@WalterKnox yes it is a shame that some have no real respect for 'Lektrizity if it's not in their house. I heard Zinsco has/had aluminum bus bars. That is bad as they will expand and contract enough to cause looseness of breakers where contact is made to the busbars. I have seen some fuse panels that take a smaller cartridge fuse rated 250 volts and there would be 2 in a small bakelite pull-out for a clothes dryer, water heater air conditioner, some multi-wire circuit. I have heard that homeowner ins. companies will not insure KnT wiring, or they will for a short time, fully expecting the homeowner to have it removed.

@@raymondgarafano8604 yeah, it is like that. I think it really depends on the areas. Around here, from the limited experience I have had and heard from friends and family buying houses, you just have to have it checked out, and if it is in good shape they don't seem to mind too much. But a lot of the houses around here are old farm houses and such. Yeah, Zinsco panels are bad, I would actually say worse than FPE. They use thin aluminum bus bars which are supported by brittle plastic, and the breakers clip on with aluminum springs that get weak and then get hot and melt to the bus bars. The reason I say they are worse, is generally FPE panels only fail when there is a fault and they will not trip, Zinsco panels also fail to trip a lot, but they also melt themselves under normal operation.

no, i have removed a couple, but there is not really a "correct" way to do it. they used to make a tool (still may) but it is expensive as hell, and all it does is cut it apart. the only way to really remove them is to break and bend them apart being careful not to damage the socket they are in. this is something that should not be attempted on a live panel, and even then you are likely to cause damage. sometimes you get lucky and they aren't seated in properly, and just twist out, but i have only seen that once.

@@WalterKnox yeah I figured that much. Thanks for the reply and for posting great content.👊⚡

@@michaelleddy3701 No problem.

yeah, I am not a big fan of those, but they are an option.

@@WalterKnox replaced all mine w/ those. 😜

@@JohnStevenson1001 okay, that does not change the fact that I am not a big fan of them...

@@WalterKnox just havin sum fun with yah. One “tradesman” to another. 😉

if the fuse you replaced was the correct one, and the new one did not blow instantly, you have an open circuit somewhere. (if the new fuse is blown, and blew instantly, you have a short somewhere). I am not sure on how your house is wired, but it is possible that receptacles or devices are wired through each other. if that is the case, something could have come off of the first one in the circuit and is not allowing power through. It could also be an issue with the fuse socket or something. other than that, without knowing more information or being there to look at it, I could not tell you. The best bet is to get someone who knows this stuff to look at it.

They are not resettable, you can look into the little window on the fuses and see which one is blown, the little metal link will either be split or burned open where the good ones will be one piece. You have to unscrew them and put in a new fuse that is the same type as the old one.

@@WalterKnox so basically just replace the one that is blown. And if that doesn’t work then what? I only say that because he plugged his ps4 and heater up stairs but the power is off everywhere. Downstairs Kitchen, living /dining room?

@@doffydonquixte so the power is off in the whole house? if that is the case then something else may have happened, because if the fuse blew, only the stuff on that circuit would have gone off. You can always see if one is blown, and switch it with another one that is good to see if that restores the power to the places where the power went off, if it does then you can buy a new fuse. If not then there is something else going on.

@@WalterKnox ok and the new fuse is the bulb or the black box you pull out?

@@doffydonquixte the fuse would be the small glass things that unscrew. The black box that you pull out are the two main fuses that power the whole house. It is possible but not likely that one or both of those are bad, but I would start with the smaller ones.

First off, I highly doubt all of the fuses are supposed to be 30 amps. They should likely be 15 or 20s, but without actually knowing what size wire it is, I can't say. Also, if the fuses are corroded that needs top be fixed. You have a bad connection somewhere, which causes heat which will eventually cause a fire.

@@WalterKnox Well all 8 in the 2 Boxes were 30 Amp , I will buy more ... The Main off \ 0n switch has 2 fuses also , I can't yet tell the amps rating . and then there are 2 Long shotgun shell looking fuses in those pull out cases 4 in all , When I make coffee all the house lights get so dim I can't really see "\ Same when the AC a window unit cycles .

@@QuaaludeCharlie Something is definitely wrong there, most likely you have a poor connection somewhere. Having all 30 amp fuses is almost certainly wrong as well. This should also be taken seriously as it can cause the wires to overheat if too much current passes through them and it could start a fire. You (or the owner of the building?) should certainly have someone look at it who knows what they are doing. Bad news is that if it is like many landlords, they simply do not care if something is dangerous as long as it works, and there is a good chance they put the 30 amp fuses in place. You definitely need an evaluation by someone who knows the subject. Since I am not there to tell you what you need, and this is a safety issue. I am no longer able to offer advice for your situation.

@@WalterKnox I Own the House , Dad passed and left it . Thank you though , I was an apprentice but never an electrician , I should call one .

@@QuaaludeCharlie Yeah, that would be your best bet. Sorry I couldn't be more of a help, but if something is a safety issue, I don't like to give advice over the internet.

In main panels, they sometimes did. Most of the times for branch circuits, there were only two wires, hot and neutral. And no ground or bond at all. Although some hack job people will bond the ground and neutral to fool an outlet tester known as a “bootleg ground” these days, but this should not be done as it can pose hazards in itself. The only way to ground an ungrounded receptacle legally is to re run with new wiring, although a GFCI can be used in place of an old 2 prong receptacle and will protect against ground faults.

So they didn't bond in fuse panels

@@WalterKnox a fault wont be cleared if its not bonded adding to the danger expecially oversized fuse.

@@albertl2542 Correct. However, a GFCI will detect a ground fault and trip, but that is still not a replacement for a proper equipment ground. But that is the next best fix besides for replacing all the wiring.

To be clear, it depends on the installation and when it was installed. In the 20s-40s there was normally no ground at all, even in the panel, although some of the really early stuff there wasn't really a "panel" but a cabinet that had ceramic fuse holders inside of it. Then from the 50s-early 60s they normally did have a ground in the panel to which it was bonded, but they normally did not run a ground to the branch circuits except for large appliances. Then from around the mid 60s onward they did run a ground wire with all of the branch circuits, and everything was for the most part bonded like it is today. It was not required however to run a grounding wire to receptacle and lighting circuits until 1971, so if someone was being especially cheap back in the day, they still might not have.

What material I would have to buy for somebody to fix it ? Thanks

@@Surviving695 I can't really tell exactly what you need over the internet, or from the description of "it's broken" or "like it's melted". But if something really is melting, or you are seeing sparks, you have a bad connection, or something is drawing too much current and has caused this. Either way, this is a safety concern at this point, and not a concern of just getting the power back on and I will not offer any advice over the internet. Most likely if the panel is damaged to the point that it sounds like it is, the whole panel is going to need to be replaced, as replacement parts other than just fuses aren't really obtainable anymore. You need to call an electrician ASAP, and if you are seeing sparks, or something is getting hot, you need to disconnect the power by either shutting off the main breaker if you have one, or pulling the main fuse.

@@WalterKnox thanks for answering and I live in apartment building so can’t really turn off anything . So if I hire electrician what to tell them because I’m not sure what to say thanks

Is your email listed to shown a picture ?

@@Surviving695 Just tell them that you are having an issue with your fuse panel, they should be able to assess it and tell you what you need. Although if you are in an apartment, you may want to ask them what to do, as a lot of times they will be weird about things, or may have an answer for you. You can send a picture to the email listed in the about section of my channel if you want to, but my advice will most likely still be the same for this situation.

It is, there is no bar for ground, but depending on your panel, you may be able to purchase and fit a ground bar. All you would need from there is a good solid ground connection, and you would run your ground wire to that, and all of your grounds for the branch circuits from it as well.

If there is not room for a ground bar, and you only need to ground 1 or 2 circuits, you could also just run in a ground, and use a wire nut to attach the ground together. Not up to code, but as long as it is not touching anything, it is technically okay and better than no ground at all.

if by back powered, you mean feed power in through a circuit, yes it can, but should not be. In order to safely and legally be back fed, there must be an interlocking device which does not allow the service power to be on at the same time as the power being fed into it, with most modern breaker panels, that is just a plate between the breakers so that only one can be on at a time. There is no real way to do this with one of these as to shut off the service, the main fuses must be removed.

Yes, although they were nowhere near as bad as a Federal Pacific or sins I panel, they did have a few design issues!

it is "pushmatic" not "pushomatic"

@@WalterKnox And certainly not, "Pishomatic."

@@GuyWithTheDogs oh... did not even notice that part because i was too focused on the O that did not belong.

You really should, most people don't though (I am guilty of that as well) because they say "I am careful and won't get shocked" but it really is not about getting shocked, every time you make electrical contact with a device that is live it sparks, I am sure you have seen a plug spark when you plug it in, well a fuse which is powering a circuit is going to spark more than that, you won't see it because it is at the bottom where it makes contact, but after enough times it may cause the contacts in your panel to wear out and not make as good of a connection, which can cause all sorts of problems. It probably won't happen, but still a good idea to turn off the power to that panel.

How do you turn the power off to that panel?

@@kristensacco3727 go to the main panel that is supplying power to that sub panel. One of the breakers will be supplying power to that sub panel. If there is no markings you can find it by process of elimination. . TURN off one at a time untill you find the one that powers the sub panel with fuses..

Correct, but the majority of these panels still use the standard Edison base fuses which can be interchanged which leads to dangerous situations

you mean the S adapter sleeve that goes to the S type fuses like shown instead of the regular fuses? why is it not making a connection? are you sure you are using the correct rated fuse? they are designed so that if you use the wrong fuse, it will not make a connection.

@@WalterKnox yes just using 20 amp fuse no power to terminal below fuse I take a meter to screw in socket and to where top of adapter is get 120 volts just nothing where fuse is in? I know adapter doesn’t support 30 amp fuses but what about adapter only for 15 amp could that be my problem

@@frankspliff7037 is the fuse 100% for sure not blown? if you have another fuse and you have not already try switching it. honestly I don't like those adapters. if you are not using the right fuse it wont work... was it working before with the same size fuse? and is every other circuit on the panel working? if you have power at the center of the fuse holder, and the fuse is good and the right size, there should be no reason it does not make a connection. there really is no good way to remove them, they can not be removed without breaking them, so you can either break them up and remove the pieces with a screwdriver or use a special tool, I have never used the tool and don't know how to use it, but it can be got here www.ebay.com/itm/Trico-38080-X-Tract-O-Fuse-Adapter-Remover-/254783602827?_ul=IL they have not made them for many years and they cost an arm and a leg. from what I have heard they are not really easy to remove and they can cause damage to the panel as well. so really there is no good way to remove it.

@@WalterKnox thanks for the help I will keep trying some stuff

Honestly, old fuse panels are safer and more reliable than modern breaker panels. The only feature they are missing is arc fault protection, which in my opinion is annoying and overkill anyway. In the event of a short circuit or a huge overload situation, a fuse will blow faster than a breaker can trip; which is why a lot of sensitive electronics are still protected by fuses, as well as larger equipment is often still protected by fuses as well. The only real danger of a fuse panel is idiots putting in the wrong size fuses (or a penny) and burning down their house. I guess sticking your finger in the fuse socket while it is live is a danger I overlook as well because I have common sense, but that seems to have gone out the window years ago for most people.

Yes, that was something that could be done back in the day. It is NOT a good idea though.

the video gets the point across does it not? if you don't want to watch the video then you do not have to, but there is a bunch of great info in it if you would pay attention to what is actually going on in the video instead of running to the comments section to complain about the video quality. I make these videos to help or entertain people, I make no money off of them, i just share because someone may find it useful, if you don't like the quality of the video you can send me some money and i will buy a tripod, otherwise just watch the video the way it is, or don't watch it at all, your call.

What is a "funding tripod"?

@@GuyWithTheDogs who knows, these people seem to live under a rock and not understand that most everything is not perfect.

What would be the purpose of that? This panel is currently serving it's intended purpose in my workshop.

I made a very clear warning not to do anything shown in this video unless you know what you are doing, and if you do not to call a licensed electrician. Most of what I was showing with the dead front removed could have been done with it in place, like removing or replacing a fuse, which is something that can be done without being an electrician as long as you know what not to touch. Although it is mentioned that it is best to remove the main cartridge fuse before doing so. The main purpose of this video is to explain that an old fuse panel is perfectly safe if used properly, and the main danger with them is user error such as overfusing a circuit, which is explained in the video. I will certainly not take the video down as I am not telling anyone to do anything other than explaining some common misconceptions. It is not an instruction video of any kind and that is made clear. There are many videos on youtube of people showing people how to do something that is actually dangerous, this is not one of them. Either way, if someone is going to play around with their electrical system without knowing what they are doing (which is not something I condone) they are going to with or without this video.

Okay, so you edited your original comment (again) but this still does not change the answer or make you correct. And Honestly, if you don’t know not to use a larger fuse than what the wife can handle... maybe you should re evaluate yourself instead of evaluating me. And the video is not catered to you specifically. It shouldn’t just end after answering YOUR question. Someone else may have another question hence why I overviewed many other things. It is not all about you.

Chill

@@theofficialmakeawishfounda6924 if you were not here for the original exchange, you shouldn't be telling anyone to chill. This guy has changed his comment 4 different times now. And his last one, one of his points is that I took to long to answer HIS question. Every time I replied to his comment, he changed it to make it sound like I am the one being an asshole by removing the context to what I am replying to.

Greetings, Romex is listed as having a temp of 192 degrees at full load. So a 14 gage wire with 15 amps flowing through it can't exceed that temp. If the current is doubled, 30 amps, the temp will very quickly climb to 768 which will have a most disasterous effect.

Yes, that is correct.

Although generally, even if the fuse was not violently blown from a dead short, a bad fuse is often referred to as a blown fuse, so calling it such wouldn't really be wrong.

@@WalterKnox True, but it gives the person an idea as to what happened, an overload as compared to a 'short.'

@@raymondgarafano8604 correct. Maybe I should have explained that, but it is hard to remember everything at once.

@@WalterKnox quite true.

The lightbulb would be in series with everything in that circuit. Depending on how much current is being drawn by the circuit, the light bulb may light dimly or it might light brightly. Most certainly nothing on that circuit would have enough voltage to operate properly and would either operate incorrectly or not at all.

This is assuming it is a real lightbulb with an incandescent filament. An LED or a CFL would act differently.

@@WalterKnox interesting! How did you learn all this?

@@veziculorile I guess I just have spent a lot of time researching and playing with old equipment. I am by no means an expert or anything. As far as putting a lightbulb into it. They have this thing called a dim bulb tester, we use them on old radios and stuff that has not been used in many year. it is just a light socket wired in series with an outlet. so if something is wrong with the device and it is shorted, the bulb will light up brightly and not damage anything, if there is nothing wrong the bulb will most likely glow really dim. So it is the same thing because the fuse is wired in series with the load, and the socket is the same, so if you but a light bulb in series with it, the same thing would happen there. I am not sure what a CFL or an LED would do though. probably nothing would work as they are very low current.

Very old school electricians would troubleshoot a short circuit by screwing a light bulb in the fuse socket. Or with a circuit breaker panel they would use a lamp socket with leads and pigtail one lead onto the circuit wire and put the other lead into the breaker. If the bulb burns at full brightness there is a short circuit. When the short is removed the bulb will be dimmer because it's in series with the load, the larger the load the brighter the bulb.