60 amp fuse blew - weird effects

[y_p_w]

I was helping my parents out with their house after a fuse blew. They didn't know what happened, but power went out in parts of the house, but not all. An electric dryer and a Tesla Mobile Connector were running at the same time. Possibly a few other things like a hot water kettle. They're not all on the same glass fuses or circuit breakers, but they're all fed by a set of 60A K5 fuses. The house is pretty old and this was how it was set up even after breakers were installed for an addition. But the entire house electricity goes through one of these 60A fuses.

But it was odd. The best I could tell, none of the breakers tripped and maybe one of the glass fuses blew, or more accurately a mini-breaker I installed for them because that circuit had a tendency to be overloaded. It's just the way it was set up, which was before microwave ovens, hot water kettles, etc. They sometimes forget that they can't run everything at the same time.

I first checked the dryer. It was still getting power (lights on) but wouldn't start. Thought maybe it could be another blown thermal fuse. Checked the breakers and they were intact. Then went to the main fuse box and could immediately tell a fuse was gone by the smell. Pulled it out and it was on old Buss NON-60. When I took it out the fuse was all loose and I pulled it apart and saw the fuse mechanism after pouring out the sand. I guess it's supposed to prevent it from catching on fire once it blows. Also saw it had three notched parts of the ribbon, so each one presents an opportunity to blow if the other fails to blow. Went to HD, got a new set of fuses since the others were all really old (When did Eagle go out of business and when was the last time those cost 60 cents?). Everything started up fine, and lesson learned about running everything at one time.

So what was the deal with the dryer? I was surprised that it still had the lights on but couldn't start.

 

[dishdude]

Dryer was getting one phase, it needs two to operate. Basically a 220v appliance only getting 110v.

 

[y_p_w]

All the older fuses had brass contacts, but the newer Bussman fuses had copper contacts. I think the older Eagle fuses were purchased loose and still had their original price tags.

 

[Mainia]

That fuse box should of been changed out 40 years ago. Maybe it is time to just do it NOW.

 

[Nukeman7]

All the older fuses had brass contacts, but the newer Bussman fuses had copper contacts. I think the older Eagle fuses were purchased loose and still had their original price tags.

I suspect the older Eagle fuse bodies were made of ceramic and the new Bussman fuses are plastic.

 

[y_p_w]

I suspect the older Eagle fuse bodies were made of ceramic and the new Bussman fuses are plastic.

They're all sand-filled cardboard. Even the new ones.

 

[y_p_w]

That fuse box should of been changed out 40 years ago. Maybe it is time to just do it NOW.

I get that. They had the addition done about 30 years ago and could have swapped everything out. But the other deal is that most of the house is 2-wire and they didn't want to go through the expense of tearing out the walls and the additional costs back them.

 

[The_Jeff]

Sounds like you have a tiny main panel feeding an acceptable sub-panel. If they want the Tesla they should really upgrade. Or at a minimum set the Tesla to only consume 16 amps.

Do you have time-of-day billing and if so are you trying to get everything done during the cheapo window?

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Some years back, before I upgraded the house electricals , I found and purchased a few boxes of the older , really good quality glass BUSS brand fuses off of Ebay or Amazon?
When we bought the house it had fuse and breaker panels. I ended up not long ago replacing all of the fuse boxes to breakers and we replaced all the old breakers with new ones. Really sad because the old Made In USA ones looked to be better quality that what we bought to replace them with. It is getting tougher and tougher to buy just about anything made the same quality it once was. I know. Sorry. Another Boomer Ranting about something......

 

[y_p_w]

Sounds like you have a tiny main panel feeding an acceptable sub-panel. If they want the Tesla they should really upgrade. Or at a minimum set the Tesla to only consume 16 amps.

Do you have time-of-day billing and if so are you trying to get everything done during the cheapo window?

Yeah there’s time of day rates. Midnight to 3 PM is the lowest. It’s kind of complicated, but this was plugged in during morning hours to top off rather than overnight, which is usually when it charges. Probably need to limit how much juice is drawn at one time.

 

[Mainia]

I get that. They had the addition done about 30 years ago and could have swapped everything out. But the other deal is that most of the house is 2-wire and they didn't want to go through the expense of tearing out the walls and the additional costs back them.

My 1949 house is 2 wire, I have added a lot of 3 wire runs, but the 4 ) 2 wire runs are still there in 12 gauge fabric cloth and tar. I was at one point going to sell the house and we decided not to. But, local code dictates all 2 wire outlets have to run GFCI outlets in EACH outlet, no linking outlet after the first outlet, thinking you have a GFCI after the first outlet. If you do that and your 2 wire runs are 12 gauge I advise to run 20 amp GFCI. I went cheap and for some reason the 15 amp version of the GFCI would pick up power variances and pop the GFCI. I had a master electrician go through the runs and he said there is noting wrong with the wiring and suggested since the wire was 12 gauge to up the GFCI to 20 amp version and I never had another event.

 

[y_p_w]

My 1949 house is 2 wire, I have added a lot of 3 wire runs, but the 4 ) 2 wire runs are still there in 12 gauge fabric cloth and tar. I was at one point going to sell the house and we decided not to. But, local code dictates all 2 wire outlets have to run GFCI outlets in EACH outlet, no linking outlet after the first outlet, thinking you have a GFCI after the first outlet. If you do that and your 2 wire runs are 12 gauge I advise to run 20 amp GFCI. I went cheap and for some reason the 15 amp version of the GFCI would pick up power variances and pop the GFCI. I had a master electrician go through the runs and he said there is noting wrong with the wiring and suggested since the wire was 12 gauge to up the GFCI to 20 amp version and I never had another event.

That’s already been done but 15A. All the bathrooms were remodeled where they were 3-wire with GFCI, but still from the old glass fuses. Fortunately LED lighting and minimal appliances doesn’t overload that part of the house. The kitchen is another matter.

 

[mk378]

GFCIs connected in a chain will do strange things-- many will detect that some sort of problem exists and trip by themselves. With a GFCI in each box you would want to branch from the inlet side of the GFCI to the next outlet. In other words all the wiring in the wall remains before a GFCI but everything plugged in will be locally protected.

Some also test the ground wire and refuse to stay on if the GFCI device itself is not grounded.

 

[dtridess]

Yeah that’s classic partial power loss - dryer will look “on” but won’t actually run. I’d be careful running big stuff together on those old 60A fuses, they’re easy to overload.

 

[y_p_w]

GFCIs connected in a chain will do strange things-- many will detect that some sort of problem exists and trip by themselves. With a GFCI in each box you would want to branch from the inlet side of the GFCI to the next outlet. In other words all the wiring in the wall remains before a GFCI but everything plugged in will be locally protected.

Some also test the ground wire and refuse to stay on if the GFCI device itself is not grounded.

It can get odd when it’s a GFCI outlet and a GFCI plug. Have occasionally seen the plug trip when nothing seemed to be wrong.

 

[Fitter30]

Fuses normally fail two ways. Higher than rated the element breaks and leaves a gap.
Direct short or to ground the element blows up leaving a large gap from where the element connections are made. There are some you tube videos on fuses. Industrial fuses labeled with how many amps their tube that houses the element 10,000 amps and higher depend on the potential.
There are so many speciality fuses in equipment and their prices are crazy.

 

[Lubener]

That fuse box should of been changed out 40 years ago. Maybe it is time to just do it NOW.

Totally agree..Hopefully it's not a Federal Pacific. The Tesla charging probably pushed that old 60 amp service to its limit.

 

[zzyzzx]

the other deal is that most of the house is 2-wire and they didn't want to go through the expense of tearing out the walls and the additional costs back them.

By chance is the 2 wire armored?

 

[y_p_w]

I’m really having a hard time now with their fridge on a Leviton 15A GFCI receptacle. It’s been tripping although I’m not sure why. It’s not overloading, although the circuit is on a mini breaker in place of a glass fuse. I tried talking to my mom over the phone about how to reset the GFCI, which is one with same colored buttons. But I kept on telling her to press in the top button all the way in and she said nothing happened.

So I went there and got it to work by just pushing in the button all the way in. I put it in test and asked my mom to push in the button. She kept on trying but it was like she thought all she needed to do was tap it. She kept on trying and still couldn’t get the button far enough for the click to reset it. I showed her how to use the end of a spoon to press it in and I think she can do it now. But overall it’s really frustrating because it’s not that hard, but my parents just can’t figure it out.

 

[Arc]

Invest in an amp meter with jaws so you can see what load you have on each circuit.