Attempting to add arc fault breaker to old panel box

[BarrySanders]

The house I'm in is pretty old, and I'm not sure how to set up an Arc Fault Breaker on my panel box. Probably a silly question as I might just need to unscrew the outer panel, but I don't want to electrocute myself. Here are a couple pictures of the box:

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/290/pic0092e.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/8760/pic0093c.jpg

While I'm at it, I have another question. I was considering purchasing the CAP high temperature cut off. It shuts off whatever is plugged into it when the temperature in your room exceeds what you set the CAP high temperature cut off to. It then turns power back on when the temperature drops below what you had it set to. I was thinking about hooking my light up to this item, but then I realized that I wouldn't want the power coming back on if the temps were too high. If, for example, the light caught fire; it would trigger the controller and then trigger my flame defender which would put out the fire. Eventually, the temps would get low enough that power would be brought back to the lights which could trigger another fire. Is there a way to get a cut off that cuts off power for good or am I being unrealistic about the possibility of second fire being started by an already burnt up light?
Thanks for your time.

 

[microgram]

The ballast should have an internal fuse that will pop if there is a sudden surge of electricity which may cause the bulb to burst. (Unless it's a magnetic ballast, those usually don't have them as fires outside in light fixtures are rarely a problem)

You have a stab-lok (federal pioneer) breaker panel, you can buy these breakers at any lowes, homedepot, or specialty electrical supply store.

The installation is simple, you have a breaker:

**The red and green breakers in the above picture are for 240 volt appliances/ballasts/etc, you need to install them by bridging two separated HOTBAR slots that are not conjoined. They are separated in the box by a BLACK DIVIDER, if you install it in the same slot both breakers will be live but only providing two sources of IN PHASE power, which is not what 240 volt devices need, they need 120V now and an additional 120v 16ms after (If I calculated that right). hence the term 240 volt. Each wire is hot 60 times per second.

Buy an ELECTRICAL SAFE screw driver (has a rubber grip on it and will be UL and have other safety certifications. Ask the sales person for one) You'll need it to make sure you don't get electrocuted from any shorts that may happen while working in the panel. Regardless if you have a MAIN SHUTOFF you can still get feedback from the ground or from the neutral which ties into your electrical pole (which is grounded AT THE ELECTRICAL POLE.) NEVER GROUND ANYTHING THROUGH THE NEUTRAL, NEUTRAL IS FOR UNUSED DIRTY POWER, ELECTRICITY WILL GO THROUGH YOU FIRST BEFORE IT'LL GO THROUGH THE NEUTRAL TO THE GROUND!.

The metal pins connect into the HOT BAR which is in the center of the electrical panel, but first follow these steps.

Look at the picture and notice where the back of the breaker is, there is an "L" shaped hook that hooks into the breaker panel on the far side from the HOTBAR which runs parallel to the HOTBAR. The "L" hook is beneath the screws on the breakers.

Make sure the breaker is TURNED OFF, wire the breaker accordingly (there will be a philips screw where you tie your HOT LINE (white or red and black with 240 volt) into. To do this, loop the copper wire after you stripped it, screw the wire down to 'attach' it to the breaker.

Wire the BLACK wire into the NEUTRAL and the GROUND (Green) into the GROUND BUS BAR, the GROUND BUS BAR usually runs perpendicular to the NEUTRAL and HOT BUS BARS. Just have the stripped wires and place them under a free screw hole and tighten the screw. Put the L shaped plastic hook into the anchor bar, and push the breaker so that the metal pins snap into the HOTBAR.

For 240 volt, you tie the BLACK (not neutral) line into the other side of the breaker, make sure the plastic divider is being straddled by your 240 volt breaker, every two slots of the metal HOTBAR are on the same phase, since you have TWO phases in your house, the ODD are out of phase and the EVEN are in phase.

Punch out the metal slot on the front cover that you have laying beside the breaker box in the appropriate place(s) to allow for the new breakers.

If you have any real concerns, I'd suggest you attend a DIY electrical night or get the sales person to show you how to install one in your breaker. Don't play too stupid or else they'll tell you to get an electrician.

I hope I've helped.

Remember, the center bar is the HOT BAR, do not let anything contact this but the breaker after final installation.

The neutral bars are on either side of the hot bar, and the ground bar(s) should be located at the top and bottom of the breaker panel. If you have a MAIN shut off (beside the breaker box) I'd suggest shutting it off the first few times you do work in your panel until you feel comfortable working in your breaker box live.

Remember, always act as there is electricity in your box, even when there SHOULDN'T BE, because there is ALWAYS the chance that there might be, especially if you're novice to wiring.

UG!

Good luck, stay green, stay safe.

 

[Catchin1]

forget

forget

forget all that shit..........the FIRST thing you need to do is GET RID of that FPE panel....what you have is an arc welder........you can strike the hot against the neutral or ground and the panel will humm like a motherfucker but will not trip..........I actually just did this very thing to an FPE panel two days ago.........right before I changed that bitch out.........worst thing of all is the house had ALL aluminum wiring in it.....call and electrician to do a service/panel change. Put in a Square D QO panel and breakers, get a panel surge suppressor and then add your arc faults or whatever if you want them.............me personally you can keep your fucking arc fault breakers..........I would GFI protect everything and be done with it.......I would also run separate new circuits to feed all of my shit as well.

 

[BarrySanders]

Thanks for the tips microgram and Catchin1! You've written a couple of seriously helpful posts. My house clearly needs an all-around electronic update and your info will help me accomplish that. Your posts were very in-depth and I appreciate that.