Found this today in a Federal Pacific with Stab-locs 
What reason could anyone have for soldering the wires onto the buss? Does it somehow provide power to the lower half of the panel? (assuming the lower half didn’t already have power)
Bruce
Split Main Panel
So it’s OK?
Odds are they are ‘crimped’. The dot in the center looks like pressure was applied to fix the cable into the bus.
tom
Federal Pacific with Stab-locs?
:roll:
Well not THAT part.
Actually there is a double-tap as well, so I’m already calling for an electrician’s eval. I explained to the client about FPE and will send him some further information.
Understood.
Split buses are common in ‘older’ houses. The photo you show has no discoloration, or damaged insulation. So it looks solid. However, you have enough to defer to a qualified electrician for further evaluation/replacement.
tom
Obviously:) I’ve never run across one of these but I don’t really understand why you would do this. So did the installing electrician somehow split the buss or would it have come from the factory like that?
Ignorantly,
Bruce
PS thanks for all of the quick responses
That’s the way it came from the factory. It wasn’t cobbled together like that in the field. It came pre-cobbled.
Some older panels were done that way with a split buss to save the expense of a larger main breaker for the entire panel. There just had to be no more than 6 switches/breakers to completely shut power off. So the top part of the panel would have the breakers for the larger circuits (e.g. stove, dryer), and one breaker that fed the lower part of the panel intended for more lightly loaded circuits. No main breaker … just an additional breaker to feed the lower buss, which was less expensive.
Bruce :
this type of breaker box is split panel and it was pretty common in 50’s to i think about early 70’s after that they went away
anyway for that type of split panel it willbe useally i will say useally be a 100 amp service but few case i ran into are 60 amp service as well
the other thing i will like to give few guys here a head up that one part of the split buss is hot all the time regaurding if you did turn off all the breakers the bussbar on upper useally ] part will stay engerized until the meter yanked out or cut the service drop or riser ]
Merci, Marc