In my Cutler Hammer 200 amp box in the garage the breakers add up to be WAY more than 200 amps. There is a main breaker on this box though. When you have a box like the old Federal Pacific Stab Lok boxes with no main breaker, do you have to stay below the 125 amp rating when adding breakers?

Federal pacific, I wouldn't run anything on that. Dangerous as hell

I've done the research on the box and I don't think there is any problem with the one I have. I was scared after first reading about the problems some have had with these boxes.

Don't worry about what all the breaks add up to. You don't use all of the circuits at once.

Federal pacific, I wouldn't run anything on that. Dangerous as hell
X2 every one I've seen scared the hell out of me

around here finding breakers for the fairly pathetic boxes has gotten to be a challenge


Brewchief:D

I was only worried about it because all of the boxes I have ever installed or used had a main breaker, and this one has the hot feeds tied directly to the bus bars, no main breaker. While I don't think it would ever happen, I don't want to be the one to blame if the garage burns down due to an overload. Is there a breaker or some sort of fuse somewhere else in this line that I don't know about?

I was pretty worried about the stab lok box so I checked it out thoroughly. I believe some were bad and some were ok. The one I have is ok. There are no signs of arcing or excessive heat on the breakers or the bars, and the breakers all work (I had to replace SEVERAL that were sticking :eek:).

Couldn't you add a 2nd box with a single 125amp breaker before the main panel to serve the same purpose?

Is this one of those split buss boxes? 4-6 double pole breakers at the top, one of which kills power to the lower part of the panel. I believe the nec requires that all power must be able to be turned off with no more then 6 points of disconnect, therefore this type off box still meets code. You could install a main disconnect in the feed to the panel however this would probably cost almost as much as replacing the panel.

Brewchief:D

Yep, this is one of those boxes. Looks like this:

http://www.inspect-ny.com/fpe/GGPic5.jpg

There is a 60 amp breaker which serves all the 115v breakers on the bottom half. I am concerned because on the top I already have a 20 amp and a 40 amp breaker, which totals 120 amps possible, already at the max amperage of the panel. I want to add a 50 amp breaker to the top of the box for a welder.

Couldn't you add a 2nd box with a single 125amp breaker before the main panel to serve the same purpose?

Yes, I could, and I guess I will need to if I can't have more than 125 amps worth of breakers total in the stab lok box. I just don't want to do that if I can add the 50 amp breaker with no problem.

EDIT: Let me rephrase the question to make it more clear. I realize I'm rambling on and on here. The question is: can I add more than 125 amps worth of breakers in a 125 amp residential panel that has no (visible) main breaker? I understand why you can do this in a Square D 200 amp panel, since it has a main breaker to prevent the panel from maxing out. I'm just wondering about this stab lok box.

That panel you're showing is an old FPE 'split bus' panel (the sub breaker turns off the lighting load, essentially 'splitting' the bus)

You'd have to do a load calc to determine if you can add another breaker to it or not.

If it's loaded up like that one, the answer's no. You'd have too many throws in the upper section (maximum of 6 allowed) It's just not adviseable to put a large 2 pole in the sub section of one of those panels.

Call an electrician, and get some help.

$100 and you could have a new Square D or GE 200A box. Breakers aren't that expensive either. I wouldn't even think twice about replacing it if I were you.

Just bought a Square D 200 amp box at Lowes yesterday for 125.00. This inculded main breaker, 6- 15 amp, 6- 20 amp, 1- 30 amp, and 1- 50 amp breakers. This will be installed in my shop next week. Lowes Item# 39537 Model# HOMVP9, 200 Amp 30/40 Main Breaker Panel Value Pack.

That panel you're showing is an old FPE 'split bus' panel (the sub breaker turns off the lighting load, essentially 'splitting' the bus)

You'd have to do a load calc to determine if you can add another breaker to it or not.

If it's loaded up like that one, the answer's no. You'd have too many throws in the upper section (maximum of 6 allowed) It's just not adviseable to put a large 2 pole in the sub section of one of those panels.

Call an electrician, and get some help.

It's not loaded up like that. a 60 amp breaker feeding the lights, and two 220v 30 amp breakers up top. I want to know if I can add a 50 amp or even a 60 amp 220v breaker to the top.

Where can I find information on how to properly do a "load calc"?

Just bought a Square D 200 amp box at Lowes yesterday for 125.00. This inculded main breaker, 6- 15 amp, 6- 20 amp, 1- 30 amp, and 1- 50 amp breakers. This will be installed in my shop next week. Lowes Item# 39537 Model# HOMVP9, 200 Amp 30/40 Main Breaker Panel Value Pack.

You might want to reconsider that... When I looked that was what they had for the HOMELINE series panels. Those breakers "pinch" the main bars, and aren't good with high duty/high load feeds like compressors/etc.

Far better to spend a bit more, and step up to the QO series panels. Sturdier and more suited to HD/Shop use.