ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Need advice

I bought an older house/cottage which has 2-wire service from the utility pole. My panel is a Cutler-Hammer model which has 2 60-amp breakers (connected with a bar) as the main disconnect. There is also a 240v electric range wired to the panel.
How is this possible? I have read that 2-wire service only allows for 120v service. The range is connected as follows: a red and a black wire connected to a twin breaker (looks just like the main disconnect), and a white neutral connected to the neutral bus.
What kind of service do I have? 60A or 120A? 120V or 240V?
Thanks

I beleive your right without looking at it. You have an old 120 volt system which originally was probably a 30 amp service. Whoever tied those 240 volt appliances in, cheated. I highly recommend that you replace this to at least a 100 amp service which includes a grounding system. I'm surprised the home inspector didn't notice this. If you don't have the majority of your major appliances on gas u may want to consider 200 amp service. Hope this helps

Are there 2 insulated wires and 1 bare wire feeding your house? Or 1 insulated wire and 1 bare wire?

There are 2 insulated wires and 1 uninsulated wire. I assumed that the uninsulated wire is only there to provide physical support to the insulated ones. Is this actually a neutral, and I have 3-wire service?

<jumping in>
Yes, the bare cable is indeed the grounded conductor or "neutral".

You have a 120/240V service.

</jumping in>



Didn't mean to barge in when it suddenly became an easy answer!

Cool.
Is it 120 amp service then, based on the main disconnect as I described above?

No, most definitely a 60A, the current remains consistant, unless there are 2 double pole breakers tied together, a la GE 200A, but it would be plainly marked at the correct current rating.

I agree with the above posts that an upgrade to 200A should be considered.

[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 12-06-2002).]