125A Main Breaker wire hot.

[szachtb2]

I just got done running a new 60 amp circuit to a sub panel in new room. new room has 4k in lighting, co2, dehumidifier, a/c and all climate control devices. my question is after running the sub panel, the main lead to the 125A breaker is getting hot on 1 of the hot legs. the main terminal on the breaker seems to be loose, but not loose in terms of set screw not being tight, but maybe an issue with the main connection to the breaker. what is normal in terms of temp on main wire. I dont believe im pulling too much power but unsure of total house draw. cant imagine im in the 125A range. thank for any help.

 

[beanja]

Do u have an ammeter? Open the jaws of your ammeter and put around hot wire to read your amps u are drawing on that phase. If you are not drawing too much amps then yes it may be loose and faulty . But first you must find out how much amps are on that phase.
Hope that helps.

 

[beanja]

You may have overloaded a phase , thats why one wire is hot. Are your lights 120 or 240?
If they are 120 I might suggest going 240 to even the load on your panel.

 

[beanja]

and if you got an ammeter make sure it is rated for greater than 100 amps or on proper setting.

 

[Iron_Lion]

Is your sub panel balanced?

Meaning you have the breakers installed somewhat equally on both sides of the panel as opposed to all on one side.

Also as other have said amp clamp the main.

 

[Midnight]

I just got done running a new 60 amp circuit to a sub panel in new room. new room has 4k in lighting, co2, dehumidifier, a/c and all climate control devices. my question is after running the sub panel, the main lead to the 125A breaker is getting hot on 1 of the hot legs. the main terminal on the breaker seems to be loose, but not loose in terms of set screw not being tight, but maybe an issue with the main connection to the breaker. what is normal in terms of temp on main wire. I dont believe im pulling too much power but unsure of total house draw. cant imagine im in the 125A range. thank for any help.

A loose breaker will cause heat every time. This is a serious situation, one that you need to get under control before you have a fire.

 

[szachtb2]

thanks, ive been keeping an eye on it. it only seems to get hot if a/c in house and dryer is going at same time. gotta put am ammeter on wire. what is proper way to check if wires are tight. im worried about putting my socket on hot leg and getting shocked. both panels have equal amount of breakers on them. should i check amps from side to side to see if they are close.

 

[szachtb2]

is it normal to get hot on just one leg. i was reading that under full load 165 degrees on one leg is normal. all of my lights are 240 btw

 

[szachtb2]

the main panel has same breakers left to right minus the 240 v circuits and the left side totals 80A and left side has 150A in 240 breakers.

 

[MIway]

A loose breaker will cause heat every time. This is a serious situation, one that you need to get under control before you have a fire.

Was at this place that had been well used... kinda old(ish)... many, many subpanels.

Anyway, this 40amp breaker was tripping... watched it run in the dark... sure as shit, an orange glow from behind the breaker where it connected.

Wiggled it... it wiggled. Placed a plastic shim between it & the adjacent breaker... no more wiggle... and no more glow.

Not advocating this practice, but curious as to when the breaker is loose... what exactly is happening while whatever starts to glow? (not an electrician, so have no mental image of what is actually happening???)

 

[szachtb2]

the left lug is tight and does not move when wiggled, right lug moves at base, wire appears to be tight in lug. I did see a small spark and could hear noise coming from wire connection when wire wiggled?

 

[Iron_Lion]

the left lug is tight and does not move when wiggled, right lug moves at base, wire appears to be tight in lug. I did see a small spark and could hear noise coming from wire connection when wire wiggled?

You'll have to tighten that shit and it will have to be done live, I'd tell you how to do it but Im not so sure it's the best thing for a home owner to do.

If done incorrectly it can kill you.

 

[szachtb2]

I wanted to avoid the electrician deal, but also dont want to die. the other question on have is the dude at the depot had me run like 4 gauge or 2 gauge aluminum wire. the wire would not fit in the neutral and the ground studs in the main panel, he told me to thin the wire and it would be okay. if this is not correct,what can i do to make this right?

 

[Iron_Lion]

#4 is a bit much, #6 would have done ya just fine.

Typically thinning the wire is not a good practice as it bottle necks the the ampacity at the point termination and could lead to warming of the wire. Since your wire is over sized I think you should be fine.

Back to your loose wire, it can be done but you really need to be as careful as possible one false move can fry your ass.

the standard protocol would go something like this....

Wearing electically safe shoes, grab allen wrech with left hand, put right hand behind your back, proceed to tighten the lug.

Reason why you put your hand behind your back is so there is no way you can accidentally put your hand on the electrical panel enclosure or or anything else that is grounded.

While you are physically connected to the live power it is safe so long as you DO NOT come in contact with any grounded metal surface. If you touch ground you will be barbequed.


To make this safe it would be best to stand on a thick rubber mat while tightening the lug to remain 100% electrically isolated.

Reason why you want to use you left hand is so that if by any chance you ever grounded out the electricity would ground out thru your left leg and not cross pass your heart had you used your right hand and grounded out with your left.

 

[szachtb2]

K so you think it is a loose wire connection and not a bad breaker. i was worried that the wire was ok and maybe the breaker was fucked up. Is there some special insulated wrench or socket to use or what. is that a 3/8 allen key?

 

[Iron_Lion]

K so you think it is a loose wire connection and not a bad breaker. i was worried that the wire was ok and maybe the breaker was fucked up. Is there some special insulated wrench or socket to use or what. is that a 3/8 allen key?

Well if the wire moved and sparked I'd say that's at least a good place to start. Im not sure off the top of my head what size allen you will need best thing to do it eye ball it before hand. It would either be 5/16 or 3/8


if the wires coming off of the breaker for the 60 amp sub aren't warm and just the wires at the main are I'd say that rules out a wiring error with the sub.

If just the mains are warms this either says you panel is drawing too much juice, loose connection, or your panel is out of balance (unlikely).

 

[szachtb2]

k like i say tho it seems like the whole lug is loose and not necessarily the wire in the lug, but i am going to try to tighten and see where i get. thanks for the help this far tho.

 

[Littleleaf]

Can you shut it off at meter? OR pull meter?

A meter is real easy to pull and put back and a lot safer than repairing hot.

 

[szachtb2]

need the correct sized allen. have all sizes around the one i need.

 

[beanja]

Sounds like your breaker may be shot.