any handyman or electrician here? circuit breaker problem

[imported_importpsycho]

last night I lost power for living/bed room
went to circuit breaker, looked fine except it was making zapping/popping noise
turned it off scared it could start a fire
I switched back on hours later, it still makes zapping noise and still no power to my rooms
called manager and he wont be in till tomorrow
so decided to go in and have look at it myself
i'm a newb when it comes to home/electr so if anyone to help me out...

i guess this is making that zapping noise, when I switch on, i see tiny sparks
behind the circuit breaker

so can I just buy a new CB and unscrew these to reconnect the wires

pic

slide BC back in and that's it?

anything I should watch out for so I dont fry myself?

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

you have no business doing this yourself. Especially since you are apparently a tenant. Doesn't your complex have an emergency maintenance number?

 

[Pepsi90919]

lol what are those gloves you're wearing?

 

[imported_importpsycho]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
you have no business doing this yourself. Especially since you are apparently a tenant. Doesn't your complex have an emergency maintenance number?

no, if it's a simple swap then I'll do it but if it's more than that, I'll wait till tomrrow
I got my computers/TV hooked up to bathroom and kitchen....

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
lol what are those gloves you're wearing?

I got scared sht when I saw sparks so grabbed whatever I could find for my hand lol

 

[bsobel]

DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU TURN POWER OFF TO THE ENTIRE PANEL.

The voltages in there will KILL you. You may think you've brushed across a wire or two in the past and know what it feels like. This is large contact area direct voltage without a breaker to protect you. You touch the wrong thing, voltage courses thru your arm, your arm clenches (muscles reaction to power), you WILL NOT be able to release your grip. You then die.

From your post you have zero business being in this box. Either a) demmand the landlord fix it today or b) call an electrician and then fight it out with your landlord later.

 

[imported_importpsycho]

Ok, i'll just wait till tomorrow for manager
thanks for the advice

 

[natto fire]

Originally posted by: bsobel
DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU TURN POWER OFF TO THE ENTIRE PANEL.

The voltages in there will KILL you. You may think you've brushed across a wire or two in the past and know what it feels like. This is large contact area direct voltage without a breaker to protect you. You touch the wrong thing, voltage courses thru your arm, your arm clenches (muscles reaction to power), you WILL NOT be able to release your grip. You then die.

From your post you have zero business being in this box. Either a) demmand the landlord fix it today or b) call an electrician and then fight it out with your landlord later.

Pretty much what he said, although it is technically the high amperage (100-200 depending on the age/quality of your residence) combined with voltage that will easily kill you. While you were able to get that old breaker off without an incident, that service connect point should really be cleaned up before putting a new breaker on there, and you cannot do that while the main breaker is on. In theory, you could turn off the main breaker (assuming it only goes to your dwelling) and clean that up and put the new breaker on, attach the wires, without incident. However, is that a theory you really want to test with your life? The fact that you live in a rental pretty much seals the deal, just put the computers on a different circuit temporarily, and wait to have the landlord send an electrician.

 

[DrPizza]

Yes, it's a very simple swap, provided you screw down the wire into the new breaker tight enough. HOWEVER, where it was shorting out - you're gonna want to clean that a bit first. To do so, you'll have to turn off the main breaker. Then, test that part where the current was arcing so you're positive it's not hot. (Before you go killing yourself.)

Personally, in my opinion, I would demand that it was fixed immediately by whoever owns your apartment; I wouldn't do it myself in your situation. (Because if something every happened because of an unrelated electrical problem, they're going to be able to point a finger at you when they notice that there's a new shiny breaker in the place. "We found evidence that the previous tenant was working on the electrical system."

Judging from the picture, it's pretty apparent that you're smart enough to have figured out the problem yourself. Make sure the main power is off when you clean that connection. (A little bit of emory cloth or something ought to do the trick just fine.) 15 Amp breakers run between $5 and $15, depending on the brand. As I say this, I've got an open, live 100Amp subpanel in my barn with wires spliced in and dangling from the ceiling (I'm half way done with a complete rewiring job, including the installation of that panel.)

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: bsobel
DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU TURN POWER OFF TO THE ENTIRE PANEL.

The voltages in there will KILL you. You may think you've brushed across a wire or two in the past and know what it feels like. This is large contact area direct voltage without a breaker to protect you. You touch the wrong thing, voltage courses thru your arm, your arm clenches (muscles reaction to power), you WILL NOT be able to release your grip. You then die.

From your post you have zero business being in this box. Either a) demmand the landlord fix it today or b) call an electrician and then fight it out with your landlord later.

The voltage there is the same as the voltage at an outlet (minus the very miniscule amount of drop in potential difference due to the resistance in the wires.) Furthermore, breakers do NOT protect you. The purpose of breakers is to protect the wires from overheating due to too much current, i.e. avoid fire in cases of problems. Lethal currents are far far far lower than what breakers are designed for.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Originally posted by: Captain Howdy

Originally posted by: bsobel
DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU TURN POWER OFF TO THE ENTIRE PANEL.

The voltages in there will KILL you. You may think you've brushed across a wire or two in the past and know what it feels like. This is large contact area direct voltage without a breaker to protect you. You touch the wrong thing, voltage courses thru your arm, your arm clenches (muscles reaction to power), you WILL NOT be able to release your grip. You then die.

From your post you have zero business being in this box. Either a) demmand the landlord fix it today or b) call an electrician and then fight it out with your landlord later.

Pretty much what he said, although it is technically the high amperage (100-200 depending on the age/quality of your residence) combined with voltage that will easily kill you. While you were able to get that old breaker off without an incident, that service connect point should really be cleaned up before putting a new breaker on there, and you cannot do that while the main breaker is on. In theory, you could turn off the main breaker (assuming it only goes to your dwelling) and clean that up and put the new breaker on, attach the wires, without incident. However, is that a theory you really want to test with your life? The fact that you live in a rental pretty much seals the deal, just put the computers on a different circuit temporarily, and wait to have the landlord send an electrician.

NO!

Ok, first, you won't die from 120VAC unless maybe you are all wet first. However, there is 230V in there as well, and while it wouldn't kill you too easily, it would hurt really bad and could be more of a problem. Don't try it...

Second, the fact that the circuits are 100-200A has NOTHING to do with how dangerous it is to touch. The danger is from current flowing through your body. Since your body provides a high resistance, it requires a high voltage to cause a dangerous level of current flow (20-30 mA is enough to mess you up while 50mA will kill you outright). For example, your car battery can put out 1000A but you could grab both terminals and not feel a thing because the voltage is so low that extremely little current will flow through your body.

 

[dmcowen674]

Turn off master switch.

Swap breakers with a similar amp size breaker.

If breaker holds then you know it's just a bad breaker. They get "lazy" over time.