Please help. I’m at the sample inspection portion of “Panel boards and Over-Current Protection Devices”
Please critique my summary before I submit: "At the time of inspection the home has a “Square D” electrical panel rated at 125 amps. The manufacture date is 03/1972. There are 2, 60 amp pull out service disconnects with 2, partially visible 30 amp bus fuses on each main disconnect within the box. The upper disconnect has 8, 20 amp screw in fusses on the load. The lower disconnect has 4, 20 amp screw in fusses on the load. The fuse labeling is legible.
All are visually correct in accordance with inspection criteria.
Now, what about the inside of the panel??
All the green fuses are, typically, 30 amp which doesn’t fly with 12 gauge (assumed) wire.
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Thank’s for the tip Jeffrey. There is another section that asks for the “type of wiring observed”.
Thank’s for the help Larry. Upon closer inspection the green fuses are 30 amp. Correction made. Thank’s again.
Almost forgot, where the sheathing is not visible and can not read the gauge on the insulation, am I supposed to know the gauge or only the compound ie. aluminum or copper ?
It would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with all types of wire so you can distinguish gauge by sight of the conductors only. The sheathing is a bonus. 
Thank’s for responding Michael. My way of seeing things is while I am familiar with wire gauges, in the instance that I may be incorrect and there is an issue later on, I would be better served not to guess, and report the gauge can not be read.
Thank’s again 
That speaks to the second part of my post: You should not be commenting on ANY part of a system until you have ALL the pertinent information regarding said system.
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Jack, many of the wires you see will not have gauge size on them. You may want to get a set of these .
from Inspectionwiresgauges.com
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You could also carry a length of each gauge around with you as you learn, 12 and 14 sometimes are difficult to separate by the naked eye.
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You may wish to include a comment in your Information Section like: “This home uses a bus fuse electrical panel system. Bus fuse electrical systems may make your Property Insurance Company options limited.”
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Thank’s for responding Jeffrey. In asking for help on describing the
service panel I had already inspected the whole panel. Just really needed help making sure I had described all the components of the
“Panel boards and Over-Current Protection Devices” correctly, and in good format.
Thank’s again, I appreciate all information.
Thank’s for the tip Joseph. You reminded me of when I was a sheet metal mechanic. So I bought this of Ebay this morning. It’s Plastic except for the ruler part. By the way, my browser indicated that link was dead.
My chrome browser says the site can’t be reached. I also tried copy and paste.
No luck. Does it open for you ?
Remove the “S” from after ‘wire’ in the address.
Thank’s Jeff, if you go by Jeff. Worked that time.
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It’s my understanding that the metal gauges last a lifetime…
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True Chuck, but I would not recommend using the metal gauges on energized wires.
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Hi, Jack. Cute photo. I’d tidy up some punctuation, too, and would suggest the following small changes:
“…manufacture date is 03/1972. There are 2 60-amp pull out service disconnects with 2 partially visible 30-amp bus fuses on each main disconnect within the box. The upper disconnect has 8 20-amp screw-in fuses on the load. The lower disconnect has 4 20-amp screw-in fuses on the load. The fuse labeling is legible. All visual components are visually correct in accordance with inspection criteria.” And, small point, but Square D shouldn’t be in quote marks. Best of luck.
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