Some Like It Hot

You would not believe how loud this breaker was buzzing…

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Give me a month or two Peter and I’ll get back to you.:slight_smile:

Peter,

Perfect example of WHY every inspector should DO exactly what you show in the image…Check everyone for temp changes…Nice Learning Moment !

I was stripping wall paper once with a rental steamer …I heard a buzzing sound wondering what the heck is that… Found it at the service panel… Breaker was screaming at me…Kill ME now…:D:D

Whooops… 15A branch circuit with the lamps on and the steamer chugging away…hmmm :mrgreen:

Didn’t have a IR temp unit at that point but I bet it was toasty…:smiley:

What should the temp. be on a breaker?

Ambient.

And the degree range of ambient is ?..

Normally within 5-7 degrees of the room the panel is located in.
Normally a tad lower than the temperature in the room…

What I’ve found…:slight_smile:

That seems to defy the laws of thermodynamics.

…the surrounding temperature.

If the basement is 61 degrees,(and that’s where panel is) that’s about what the breakers and such should be.:wink:

Some times I forget there is Zeroth law before the first law:

Not even sure how this applies, but it looks damn impressive…:smiley:

lol…honestly…lol…basically I scan over all the breakers…you will get an idea of a normal temp from this individual scan of each one…if their is one arcing and hot…TRUST me…it will STICK out like a Sore Thumb…:slight_smile:

Well, they aren’t made of “bake it lite” for nothen. Seriously though, I’ve encountered some that were over 500 degrees and had to keep them in service for weeks while waiting on special order replacements

Have an In fared thermometer but still test Breakers the old way after 50 years hard to stop . Back of my middle finger . Test motors Palm of the hand count to ten Not to hot . Seen some I have to count pretty fast .
Roy Sr.
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That touch test may be fine for consumer grade, fractional HP motors but there are lots of big industrial motors you could fry an egg on and that is the normal operation.

Ouch. No touch

And why was it buzzing?

Not our job… reffer to an expert.

Brilliant!!!

If you take a look at 310.16, the 75C column, you will see the F temps as well. If a conductor/breaker is loaded to the maximum current permitted, the conductor/breaker may reach this temperature (possibly 167F). So the conductor/breaker can actually be hot to the touch, well above the ambient temperature surrounding them.

Some breakers as they get older will buzz due to the pitting of the contacts, which also may increase the breaker temp. Depending on the load applied to the breaker in the picture posted, I would say the buzzing is from pitted or loose contacts, and the temp is not creating this problem. There are many variables, but this is my guess.

Yep…I have plenty of BREAKERS i want to give the finger too as well…:mrgreen: