ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Violation Photo Forum How Could You Think This Up?

Yes, that's aluminum.
I thought maybe this was somebody's crazy idea of pigtailing the breaker with Cu because of the lugs, but then i saw this.



The lugs are rated for the aluminum

Ooooh this is giving me flashbacks of LA county service work Someone sure didn't want to spend $40 on a new panel! Were the terminals in the main frozen and someone decided to let their creativity get the best of them??

What's under the tape?.
This looks terrible.

I'm not positive Mike, but it might be something like this splicer/reducer



I agree... This is sad looking

STRANGER THAN FICTION

Well obviously whoever did this was not a qualified electrician, this is what doeasn't make sense to me, Why the split bolts, why not reterminate in the lugs? If the lugs are frozen why not replace the whole panel? Why not replace the panel in the first place? the existing service was ripped out and the wire was replaced, why not do the panel why you're at it? Why replace the service conductors in the first place? Addition? additions need power, and I don't see any new black and grey FPE breakers in there, none of it makes any sense whatsoever

Is there any story behind this, or is it just an anonymous picture?

Panel relocation, for example when building an addition? And the service wires were either too short or too long, so they cut them. They kept the panel because they were doing a cheap job for the homeowner.
That's my closest guess.

At least the installer didn't use duct tape!