ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Electrical Nostalgia Main & Range, Plus 4

seven, you're not asking a dumb question. the only dumb one is the one not asked. that said. it's like the pic says main 60amp (controls all) ,range usually 40amp then he branch circuits 15 to 30. but back then no more than 20.:-)

Thanks everyone! It's always interesting to read-up on how things used to be done.

Anyone know when the ground rod became a code requirement?

A similar situation existed in England, where it was common to use the water service as the sole grounding electrode up until the 1960s.

Sven:
I don't believe these panels are being made any more. On rare occasion, you can find a brand new one as an old stock item in an old hardware store...my wife gets mad at me when we go on vacation because I like to stop in at every hardware store along the way to see what kind of electrical "treasures" they have for sale (the older and more decrepit the store, the better, of course) .

I have some very nice vintage panels like these in my collection. They are (were) built in 60 amp and 100 amp varieties. In the 60 amp version, the left 60 amp. pullout was indeed a "main"; the range fuses, plug fuses and the sub-feed lugs nearby were all bussed off of the load side of this pullout. In the 100 amp version, the left 60 amp pullout disconnected power to the plug fuses only (and the sub-feed lugs next to the plug fuses), the range pullout being bussed ahead of it, i.e. the "main" and "range" pullouts were connected in parallel to the service from the meter.

I've seen many of the pony cleat-style boxes you referred to. The fascinating thing about them is that there are almost as many variations of them as there are installations - each one essentially being "hand built" for a particular use. Joe Tedesco's excellent "Electric Meter Horrors" has some good photos of these devices...some arranged in boxes, some merely installed out in the open.

I tried to tell my aunt about the type S fuses, and the hazards of overfusing these ancient circuits. She wouldn't have anything of it until she experienced a small electrical fire which incinerated one of the fuse sockets. She had an EC upgrade the service to 200 amp and install numerous new circuits with 15 amp breakers to split up the old knob and tube stuff. She eventually came to think of her new Square D panel as being "the best thing since sliced bread" . She used to invite her friends over to look at it, and show it off at her garden club meetings! I guess I would do the same too, if I were in my 80's and had spent that much money on it...

Mike (mamills)

[This message has been edited by mamills (edited 05-15-2003).]

We had a similar fuse box in the house where I grew up, except that it had 4 pullouts, 2 above the four fuses and 2 below.

It was a large farmhouse and the plug fuses were roughly divided by a quarter of the house. For example, pull out fuse 1 and lose the power to both floors on the NE quadrant of the house. And one of the fuses also protected all the farm buildings as well as it's portion of the house.

The pull outs controlled the mains, range, dryer, and hot water.

We did have a ground rod, and I'm pretty sure the water pipe was not grounded. I remember getting quite a shock in the bathtub when the well pump developed a short.
(Everything was wired with 2 wire romex, with no ground.)

[This message has been edited by kale (edited 05-15-2003).]