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No heat from from the dryer

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Fixnfly

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So I have a newer Amana electric dryer that spins fine but has no heat at any setting. Resistance checks are all good inside the dryer. At the 3 prong outlet I found this..
red-black 104V
black-white 118V
red-white 8V

Any input would be appreciated!
 
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wyliesdiesels

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Sounds like you lost a hot leg.

Check voltage at breaker lugs...

But if it was the red leg you lost, then you shouldnt be getting any readings.

Those numbers dont make sense...
 
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Fixnfly

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I'm going to replace the breaker and the outlet. Both are older and feel sloppy.
I will update !
 
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Bert_

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There is really zero volts from black to red but the meter is such high resistance that a wire with no connection at either end is a good enough ground to show voltage. The fact that it shows 104v volts rather than a solid ~120 is a good indication of this.
 
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Fixnfly

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I think I found the problem...
I have an electrician coming over later tonight, this is a little out of my skill level.
 

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Fixnfly

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I came home from work the other day and the smoke detector was going off.
No smell of smoke or flames so I "assumed" the detector was going bad, boy was I wrong.
This **** scares the hell out of me!
 
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PCustoms

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Fixnfly said:
How long would it take for my electrician to replace the panel?
Click to expand...

Depends on how big the current one is, and what he needs to do to kill the power to the house.

Also hope you don't run into any code issues. Depends if he has to pull a permit I guess. Unfortunately it's probably not a Saturday job.

What is on the 2 breakers opposite the one you removed? I'd shut those off if possible.
 
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Fixnfly

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It's actually a sub panel. Feeds the downstairs of the house, heaters, dryer, and a few outlets. Codes are not really an issue here so that won't be a problem.
It looks like westinghouse made the panel. House built in 1985.

What would cause this meltdown?
 
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PCustoms

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Fixnfly said:
It's actually a sub panel. Feeds the downstairs of the house, heaters, dryer, and a few outlets. Codes are not really an issue here so that won't be a problem.
It looks like westinghouse made the panel. House built in 1985.

What would cause this meltdown?
Click to expand...

Loose connections drawing high current caused the meltdown. Could be bad breaker, wrong breaker or just a loose connection to the buss.

Given it is a sub panel, assuming no other issues, he shoukd be able to kill it at the main panel aND swap in a blend new one in a couple hours. Really not a lot of hard work, just need to be organized and able to able just to old, possibly shoddy work.

For reference I pulled my meter and changed 2 panels in a day, with LOTS of hiccups and a new feed involved.
 
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Norcal

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alfredeneuman said:
Sylvania/GTE owned the Challenger Brand.
The breaker pictured is a Challenger
Click to expand...

GTE sold the Zinsco/Sylvania brand and they became the Challenger Electrical Equipment Corp. who later bought Federal Pacific Electric, Westinghouse later bought Challenger, & they & the Bryant /Westinghouse BR line became the same, which is why I call the successor Eaton BR panels "Zinsco II".
 
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TRWham

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I had a panel bus fail in a similar way about 25 years ago and it was covered by homeowners insurance as a fire. You might want to investigate if filing a claim makes sense.
 
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Fixnfly

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TRWham said:
I had a panel bus fail in a similar way about 25 years ago and it was covered by homeowners insurance as a fire. You might want to investigate if filing a claim makes sense.
Click to expand...

My electrician is going to change the panel for well below what my deductable is. Good idea though!
 
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Fixnfly

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Here's a picture with the damaged breakers removed.
I was told it would be O.K to use until he can change the panel next weekend.
 

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TRWham

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alfredeneuman said:
That would be the BR (ZinscoII) panel.
The BR is the modern day replacement breaker for Challenger and Bryant, among others.
Click to expand...

The bus style in the infamous Zinsco panels is completely different from the current BR product or the OP's Westinghouse panel. I don't know when along the line from Zinsco to Cutler-Hammer it was changed, but the original was a solid vertical bar down each side rather than the stabs found on the later versions. The breakers were also different and they are not interchangeable.
 
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alfredeneuman

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Norcal - "which is why I call the successor Eaton BR panels "Zinsco II".

Norcal calls the BR panels "Zinsco II", because of their reliability.
I know that's not the same as the original Zinsco, which had flat aluminum buss bars in up to 100Amps, and "angle iron" shaped aluminum busses in 200A.
The original were known for a chronic problem with pitting on the busses.
 
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Norcal

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There is no physical resemblance to Zinsco with the the BR line, they are marketed as "Engineeered Value" which is another name for cheap which was why Zinsco/Sylvania was so popular in multi-family, and tract homes, and are the first sign of a **** electrical installation. With every product type there has to be someone at the bottom, & the Bryant/Westinghouse/Cutler-Hammer/Eaton BR line is the garbage line at the bottom. Sort of like the difference between a Yugo, and a Toyota to add some garage content.:D
 
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Lassen Forge

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Love them Zinsco's and Sylvanias. They're famous for doing what your's did (when I found them in our house, decided we needed to change them out). Every maker has their "budget" line... that's why I'm kind of a fan of Schneider/Square D. Even their cheap stuff is pretty good, and their QO is like an industry standard.

Our electrician at our old place had to replace a Sylvania main box, and he had it done in 2 days, and was able to repower the essentials in the house overnight.

The only issue with our place now is they'll have to take out part of a kitchen wall to redo one of them... the builder went cheap, so now we pay. But safety-wise, it's worth every penny...
 
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Bert_

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Fixnfly said:
Here's a picture with the damaged breakers removed.
I was told it would be O.K to use until he can change the panel next weekend.
Click to expand...

That looks about the same as the current Eaton BR construction. Might be worthwhile to see if the gut's from a new panel are the same. If they are you could just swap the guts and leave the existing box. It would make that a very quick job.

But seeing as it's already full of twins it might be just as well to put in a new larger panel.

Just some food for thought.
 
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alfredeneuman

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Eaton C/H makes some very good products

The Eaton "CH" series is their top of the line in residential
Their 3/4" width (the same of the QO)
They have trip indicators like QO......and
Their panels have silver plated Cu bus bars, whereas the QO has the option for tin plated Cu busses.

Their commercial/industrial products are second to none.
 
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Fixnfly

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Bert_ said:
But seeing as it's already full of twins it might be just as well to put in a new larger panel.

Just some food for thought.
Click to expand...

I would feel a little better is everything was replaced. I am going to ask about replacing all of the breakers in the main panel also. Just because.


You guys sure know your panels!
 
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Bert_

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Fixnfly said:
I would feel a little better is everything was replaced. I am going to ask about replacing all of the breakers in the main panel also. Just because.


You guys sure know your panels!
Click to expand...

You can still replace breakers. I was suggesting you may be able to leave the current box and put new guts in it assuming that a new panel has the same interior. That saves you having to pull all the wires out of the current box and saves a bunch of time. The only thing you would reuse is the metal box itself.

If you plan on replacing it with the same size panel I would check into it. I've done it a few times when a new panel uses the same parts as the old one.
 
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vavet

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Please forgive the theeadjack, but I’m wondering about the breakers on the lower right of the OPs panel. There appear to be two toggles on each breaker. Is this to allow you to run two circuits off one breaker? Maybe they would be never be used together?
 
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Bert_

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vavet said:
Please forgive the theeadjack, but I’m wondering about the breakers on the lower right of the OPs panel. There appear to be two toggles on each breaker. Is this to allow you to run two circuits off one breaker? Maybe they would be never be used together?
Click to expand...

It is two individual breakers built into one case. Functions the same as two separate breakers. Most manufacturers make twins or half size breakers.
 
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