And that is common for a 20 year old one that has decided to fail. I imagine we had not switched this main circuit breaker OFF for 20 years.ġ) Does replacing the 200 amp main breaker sound like the correct action?Ģ) Does this main breaker replace the same way the 15A and 20A breakers are replaced?ģ) Do I need to contact the power company to turn power off to my property before doing so?Ĥ) Is this something that a homeowner that is well versed at wiring and adding 20A and 15A circuits to electrical panels should be able to do?īreakers are supposed to be 'exercised' once in a while but mains almost never get that for obvious reasons. I am guessing that I need to replace the main 200 amp circuit breaker as it appears something does not stay constantly ON, even though the breaker is slid all the way open.

None of the breakers tripped during any of these. half the outlets were no longer working and by jimmying the main 200 amp breaker a little, all the other outlets resumed working. We found that by pushing the main 200 amp breaker farther (open), this fixed the issue and the outlets and lights that suddently stopped working, were now working again.Īll was fine for another week, then the same symptoms appeared.

Then a few days later, the symptoms were that some of the outlets were no longer working (nothing to do with the circuit I added). Everything went well, and all worked when completed.

I shut off the main 200 amp breaker as a precaution before adding the new 20A breaker. I added a 20A breaker in an empty slot in my circuit breaker. This note is about our lakefront cottage (summer home).