What You Need to Know About Old Fuse Boxes 

Absolutely! For anyone that is not comfortable and familiar with this type of work, I always recommend hiring an electrician

@@NorthwestCraftsman Yes, You are right. I'm sure a LOT of people use your explanation/help to do their own.

I hadn’t thought about that but what a great idea! Thanks for the explanation, and warnings, I’ll check into that!

@@NorthwestCraftsman The two space sub and double pole breaker are cheap. This also provides an easy and safe disconnect with the breaker when you need to cut power. With fuses on 110 v circuits, unscrewing a fuse is perfectly safe, once you back out the fuse the exposed metal threads on the fuse are dead and you won't get a shock if your fingers were to touch them. However when you're using two fuses to get 220 volt this isn't the case. If you go unscrew one of the fuses, power will be present in that fuse's screw shell, you don't want to touch this shell as you are unscrewing it or you could get a shock. Only safe way to disconnect power is to unscrew both at the same time so you're breaking connection to both fuses. This is the reason 220 v fused circuits use pullouts to remove both fuses simultaneously, or a safety switch with plug fuses that kills power to both fuses at the same time so you can safely remove or install them.

Interesting! Again, great info. Thank you!

Thanks for that added knowledge on the bus bar taps! I totally agree with you, ideally this would be its own 200A service. We’re renting currently so I’m not planning to touch it since it works for me as is. However, when we have a place of our own, a 200A panel in the shop will be a must.

So glad I could help! I had such a hard time finding my info. Just be sure to know which bus bars run to which fuses. They change per panel design.

Fascinating, I’d be curious what the lead evidence was to move to breakers instead. I’m assuming there was more than the convenience factor

Fuses are still used in commercial applications. There's different types of fuses that are designed to be fast trip, medium trip, and then time delay. For residential applications in most cases time delay is the way to go. Breakers do a great job for time delay. So, they became the norm. Fuse panels can be dangerous due to the ease of changing out fuses for higher amperages to avoid tripping. That's why breakers became the safe norm. Again, in commercial applications fuses are still used. Also, you'll find fusable disconnects at residential outdoor ac units.

Probably can’t anymore, they’re quite outdated and shouldn’t be used. I’d recommend a small breaker panel that matches your needs. They’re cheap and much safer.

Hey! Caveat that I’m not an electrician but I’ll give it my best shot. The black box that you pulled, does it have two, tube like fuses in it? It sounds like one of them popped so one of your busses isn’t getting any power. You should also be able to test this with a voltmeter by removing one of the small fuses on a working circuit and one that isn’t working. Measure both with reference to ground. I suspect the dead bus will read zero. If so, and perhaps even before whipping out your voltmeter, pull the black box and look for signs that one of them popped. You should see some charring inside or an indicator that popped. If you do see that or it reads zero with the voltmeter, you should be able to take it to your local hardware store and get a replacement fuse. Make sure to get the exact same size, dimensions, and current rating. They come in slightly different sizes and shapes but you should be able to find it. I would also be remised if I didn’t recommend replacing your fuse box with a breaker box. It’s not that expensive and is miles safer and easier to work on. Case in point here, if you blew a fuse you need to replace it, breakers you’d flip back on. Also not to go on and on but you may check what your loading on that bus is and ensure your fuse sizes on your circuits match the wire coming out of the box. If your air compressor tripped the main fuse, it means your bus was overloaded even though the individual circuit was not. That’s what the fuse is for but it’s generally to be avoided or means your fuse is oversized for your circuit which is more dangerous. If you’re at all uncomfortable with those descriptions, call an electrician and they’ll be able to quickly sort you out and make sure things are safe (though they will surely recommend or require a panel upgrade). Sorry for the long winded response! Hope this helps!

@@NorthwestCraftsman thanks so much i will check tomorrow because i try to replace one of the fuses the 30 green one but didn't work so i needed the light on my bathroom so i conect my light to the kitchen switch but i not sure if that is safe to do i mean works fine im just not gonna connect my compressor again

Yea, if you could have an electrician look at your panel, that’d probably be your best bet to both ensure you have the right size of fuse and that everything is wired correctly.

Shoot! I'm sorry to hear that! That wasn't my goal. Can I help answer any of the questions you still have?

Totally agree it’s better for any future updates. I didn’t upgrade because I don’t expect to be in this shop for more than a few years and I’m renting the space.

I've read to HIRE someone to do that, it IS expensive. DIY is a different story.

Not that hard to do. If you can turn off the power and can use a screwdriver you can do it.

The breaker box itself isn't that expensive but if the house is wired with two receptacles wouldn't you be required to rewire the house? I'm no electrician by any means and this is the situation I'm in. I know the only way I can install a 3 prong outlet now is to replace the two prong receptacle with a 3 prong GFCI receptacle and the lable included has to be place on the outside of the receptacle warning that it's not grounded

You’re totally right. I can’t remember where I had heard 220 in place of 240 early in my life but it stuck.

Hey John! I don’t disagree one bit. I’m renting this place right now and plan to move soon so it’s not worth changing myself. However, in the whole, I agree, it’s not a hard or expensive swap long term.

Out of curiosity, what am I cheaping out on?

Fuse boxes do not magically burst into flames, you just have to maintain them a bit more than breakers. In good working order, they are perfectly safe. Also, do you forget that a lot of people rent and dont have the option to change things like this entirely? Whats better, living with a fuse box that you have to maintain a little bit or being completely homeless?