Old Home = Fuse Box = Questions

[Modo]

The current thread here got me thinking about my new 90g set up I am doing and the electrical load on the circuit.

Last night I was examining my fuse box and noticed that 4 of the fuses were 30amp and one fuse was 20amp. This seemed odd to me since most circuit breakers in past apts. and houses I have lived in were 20 or 15.

The house that I currently live in was built in the early 30's. The wiring looks pretty decent from my untrained eye in the attic. But, we still have the fuse box.

Is this correct to have 30 amp fuses? These could have easily been swapped out by the past tenents not knowing any better. Should I replace with 20amp fuses?

Please let me know if I'm about to burn down the joint.

Thanks!
Kurt

 

[Modo]

I am going to post again instead of editing.

Is it possible to check the guage of wiring to determine this? What size wiring would be needed for a 20 or 30 amp load?

 

[cdeakle]

Get a licensed electrician out! Or if your renting call the owner.....

 

[baseman]

I agree with 420. Get a licensed electrician. It's normal to have 30 and 20 amp circuits. Most electric appliances(stoves/dryers) require at least that.
I would also look into putting in a breaker panel to replace the fuse box.

 

[Anonymous]

Yup, you should look into getting a new panelboard with circuit breakers. Fuse boxes are such old technology that it is strange to hear that some still exist.

Louey

 

[Modo]

It's a rent property and I don't see a circuit board going in anytime soon really. Looking at it from a Landlord's perspective (which I'm not, but can understand in a way)..if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Fuse boxes are old technology, but I've lived in a few "Old Town" apartments or houses that have them. So, I'm pretty much stuck and think I need to look into this further.

Thanks for the input so far.

 

[hillbilly]

Modo,
I don't see anything wrong with using the old fuse
box and wiring if it's up to handling the load. As
everyone knows, these have been around for decades. I would have it tested, if no problems,
I say go for it.

 

[Anonymous]

The 30 amp fuses could be for the water heater and the range. Possibly the AC unit as well.

20 amp fuse should be connected to #12 wire and 30 amp fuse should be connected to #10. If you cant read the size on the insulation, maybe you could get a small piece at HD for comparision.

Can you shut off power from the fuse box at the meter? If not, you should just pay an electricain to double check everything for you. I doubt it would cost very much for a service call, less than $50.

Louey

 

[Modo]

Hillybilly, that's pretty much what I'm going to do. I can't shell out the cash for a pro to come in and rewire a house that isn't even mine. I just need to make sure that I'm using the right amperage fuse so if I do overload it won't burn the place down.

It would be really nice if the room this new tank is going into is actually a 30amp line. But, the tenents before us could have easily bought the wrong fuses. So, I need to do some further digging.

Right now it looks like the tank is going to have a total load roughly around 1100 - 1200w. Once I get home I'm going to determine what else is on this circuit and see if it can handle it. From what I can tell by just mentally calculating it out I think it's going to be around 1600w. So, I think I'm clear. But, I want to double check the fuse size so if the wife decides to plug in an iron or the vacuum to this circuit that it will blow instead of fry.

 

[Modo]

Sorry Louey,
I posted at the sametime. That is exactly the info I was looking for. Thanks for the tip. I just contacted my father at Raytheon to see if one of his Electrical Engineering buddies could give me a shout. I'll post any relevent info once I speak to someone.

Thanks!
Kurt