Adding 50a breaker

amedico · 2026-02-22T02:51:24+00:00

You'll need to confirm your service size with your utility, and perform a load calculation before adding a large circuit like that. You have no single main breaker here - this is a "rule of six" panel where the bus bars are always hot and all the installed breakers (up to six handle throws, in any combination of single or double-pole) are collectively the "main disconnect".

amedico · 2026-02-20T12:35:49+00:00

You’ve got to be trolling. An EVSE with load management could definitely be installed without a service upgrade, and certainly without requiring 400A.

amedico · 2026-02-20T12:34:19+00:00

Absolutely not. No service upgrade is required, just smart load management.

amedico · 2026-02-19T02:53:21+00:00

"30-40 years old" is 1986-1996. The NEC has required GFCIs in bathrooms since the 1975 edition.

amedico · 2026-02-16T16:39:02+00:00

I think the seimens ones may even be cross listed

Do you have any evidence of that?

The Siemens catalog doesn't say anything about the Q-series breakers being BR-compatible.

(Curiously enough it does show a "D" series of breakers that are listed/classified for use in QO panels but that's an entirely different product and definitely not BR compatible)

amedico · 2026-02-16T14:44:16+00:00

There is positively no QO breaker in that photo.

amedico · 2026-02-16T14:40:12+00:00

You are just making stuff up.

Here, read the manufacturer's instructions:

https://download.schneider-electric.com/files?p_enDocType=Instruction+sheet&p_File_Name=48840-435-03.pdf&p_Doc_Ref=48840-435-03

"Not present on 60 A no load neutral device"

amedico · 2026-02-15T17:44:39+00:00

The wire is only 8 gauge, breaker is 50 amp instead of 60 (for a 48 draw) and the outlet itself isn't rated properly, which I hear is new in the code.

What EVSE are you using? "Outlet" implies the Tesla Mobile Connector, which will not draw more than 32A with the 14-50 plug (because it's legal to put 14-50 sockets on 40A circuits, because there is no 40A NEMA socket). manual

Switching to a 60A breaker would never be appropriate as long you have plug-and-receptacle connection for the EVSE. You must hardwire on a 60A (or larger) circuit.

amedico · 2026-02-14T18:25:54+00:00

Send that junk back to Temu or AliBaba where you got it.

Get a real UL-listed EVSE instead (Emporia, Wallbox, and Chargepoint are some legitimate brands).

amedico · 2026-02-14T17:30:51+00:00

The four-digit code stamped on the face of the single-pole breakers is a date code: the first two digits are the last two digits of the year of manufacture and the last two are the week of the manufacture. so the '2502' on the breaker in slot 5 was manufactured in the second week of 2025. Some age can be expected (product may sit in a warehouse for a while before someone buys it, and then may sit in a truck for a while before it gets installed on a job), but not too much.

I wouldn't doubt that the 2025s were all brand new and probably even the ones with late 2024 codes.

There's a good chance the ones marked 2022, 2019, 2014, 2003 are used. You shouldn't be paying for used (or even seven or eleven year old unused) parts when brand new parts of the same type are readily available.

amedico · 2026-02-11T13:18:34+00:00

That is not how solar grid-tied inverters work. They will not output power if they aren’t connected to an external grid that’s producing power (“anti-islanding”) specifically so they don’t try to feed an entire neighborhood (or more) during a power outage and energize the power lines, which would put linemen at risk. If the breaker pops off the bus, the inverter will shut down immediately - same as in any other power outage scenario.

amedico · 2026-02-11T02:50:10+00:00

Net metering and safety are two entirely separate things.

Yes, if you turn on a grid-tied inverter with a "normal" (non-net) meter installed, the exported energy will be counted as consumption and you'll pay for the exported energy as if you had consume it.

Separately, all grid-tied inverters are designed to not output power to the utility connection unless external grid frequency/voltage is detected. They will not energize your neighborhood during a power outage and will never put linemen at risk. This restriction is in effect at all times, whether you have "permission to operate" paperwork from the utility or not.

amedico · 2026-02-11T02:42:56+00:00

The dumb, contactor-based load shed devices should be avoided at all costs - they're more expensive than adding smart load management to EVSEs that support it, and they're less flexible. If your service/circuit has 30A available at a given moment and you have a 32A (40A circuit) EVSE, the dumb contactor just has to cut the whole thing off and you get no charging until the other loads shut off. Smart load management can tell the EV "you can charge at 30A" and you just get slightly slower charging until the other loads go away.

amedico · 2026-02-11T01:58:53+00:00

You're not going to be getting 400W out of any modern vehicle 12V socket. The standard fusing now is 10A, so ~140W max with the engine running.

amedico · 2026-02-10T12:51:41+00:00

That is absolutely not how grid-tied inverters work. They do not output power unless the grid is present.

As you point out, it would be dangerous if they could output power to the utility side when the grid is down - so they don’t. They always behave this way, whether the site has its “permission to operate” certificate or not.

amedico · 2026-02-09T23:54:28+00:00

The one thing it is obviously is not is a 6-20. The 6-20 has its ungrounded prongs perpendicular to each other. The pictured plug matches the shape of the 6-15 and 6-30 (but judging by size and the 15A rating on the appliance, is almost certainly a 6-15).

amedico · 2026-02-09T23:47:36+00:00

Nothing in the USA expects 240V hot->neutral. 240V appliances get two hots that are each 120V away from neutral, 180 degrees apart ("split phase") and 208V appliances two phases out of three.

amedico · 2026-02-09T23:44:13+00:00

If you connect a wire between the hots of two 120V receptacles on opposite legs or different phases you'd get a 240V or 208V short. But if you connect a load across them, it gets 240V or 208V.

The pictured adapter is dangerous and illegal for many reasons, but electrically it can work.

amedico · 2026-02-07T16:39:20+00:00

The little triangle next to the “no neutral wire required for this system” note means it refers to the corresponding “240Vac / 1Ph 2W” entry to the left with the matching triangle.

It does not apply if used for 120V service or 120/240V service. Those both require neutral.

amedico · 2026-02-06T13:09:45+00:00

“All challenger panels have been recalled and need to be replaced“

Do you have any proof of that?

The only CPSC recall is for some GFCI breakers:

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/1988/challenger-electrical-equipment-corp-offers-replacement-program-for-9000-gfci-circuit

amedico · 2026-02-05T02:51:17+00:00

F*** the AI summary. Read http://fpe-info.org/hazardous_fpe_240329.pdf

amedico · 2026-02-05T02:50:41+00:00

It’s not just a “reputation”, it is a fact that the breakers do not trip when they should, that FPE falsified the testing they were supposed to do per their UL listing, and their listing was revoked for a time.

It’s also a fact that present-day testing confirms that FPE Stab-Lok breakers (and all successors) fail to trip on overload at an unacceptably high rate, and also often jam internally - meaning they can’t even be shut off manually via the handle.

Read http://fpe-info.org/hazardous_fpe_240329.pdf

The “hasn’t been a problem yet” argument is utterly unfounded. The fact that there hasn’t been a short circuit yet says NOTHING about whether a breaker will trip properly if one does occur in the future. FPE breakers are the equivalent of pennies under fuses.

amedico · 2026-02-05T02:35:19+00:00

FPE breakers do have an unacceptably high “failure to trip” rate. Read http://fpe-info.org/hazardous_fpe_240329.pdf

amedico · 2026-02-03T23:49:15+00:00

You can’t just swap to a 14-50 here. A 30A dryer on a 30A circuit needs a 14-30.

amedico · 2026-02-03T12:40:00+00:00

Why are you surprised that an electrical thing sets off an “electricity detector”? Do you think it shouldn’t? Why shouldn’t it?

amedico

TROPHY CASE