Electrician Question

[BigMacFU]

Yeah, I've got my own panel, my own contract with ConEd, what I don't get is, since there are 6 one pole breakers, which means 3 full circuits (right?) the other two don't even go to outlets in the apartment, nor my lighting, what is going off when I put them in the off position? It's like the mysterious light switch everyone has. I wish they went to my neighbors apartment so I could refuse to give them power till they rewired my building. The building has been renovated over the last 10 years piece by piece, and the wire is a fairly thick gauge. Ah NY.

[Bassfever]

If you have 6 1 pole Breakers you should have 6 circuits. I take it you have a gas stove and no dryer? I am not familar with NYC and the way they do things so I dont want to get you in a heap of trouble. If you have your own meter and pay the electric I would shut off all breakers you cant find and see if any neighbors complain. Make sure you are not shutting down and fire alarm eq. These should not be on their own circuit but who knows what they did.

[BigMacFU]

Thanks Bass, wasn't sure if you needed a positive and a negative and that technically completed one circuit. So, yeah, I guess in an apartment with 5 rooms and 6 circuits, only 2 are actually being used, one takes on every outlet in the apartment (including those with appliances plugged in), and one takes the built-in overhead lighting. The one that fed all the outlets was hooked up to a 15 amp, I switched it to a 20. I left the overhead lighting on a 15. Only major appliances are a Fridge, Microwave, mini-fridge. Other than that I've got the usual electronics, TV, Computer, Ext. Hard Drive. Oh yeah, and no fire alarm routed through the electrical system.

[Kenyth]

Yeah, I've got my own panel, my own contract with ConEd, what I don't get is, since there are 6 one pole breakers, which means 3 full circuits (right?) the other two don't even go to outlets in the apartment, nor my lighting, what is going off when I put them in the off position? It's like the mysterious light switch everyone has. I wish they went to my neighbors apartment so I could refuse to give them power till they rewired my building. The building has been renovated over the last 10 years piece by piece, and the wire is a fairly thick gauge. Ah NY.

I must say I sympathize with you. In these conditions it must be hell getting your landlord to fix anything broken. Six breakers should mean six circuits. One should go to your central heat, and one to central AC. That could be why you don't see what they do. Anyway, rewiring a panel for efficiency and safety isn't rocket science, so hiring an electrician to do it and getting your landlords permission would be the next best option. The electrician should be able to identify everything you have a question about and tell you what's possible and what's necessary.

[Woanzenagi]

Doesn't the panel have a legend in it to tell you what each breaker is for? It's a requirement to acccording to national codes that each breaker be labeled to it's purpose. Even spares must be marked as such.

[mauied1101]

Doesn't the panel have a legend in it to tell you what each breaker is for? It's a requirement to acccording to national codes that each breaker be labeled to it's purpose. Even spares must be marked as such.

If it is, it's loosely enforced... I don't have mine labeled... had to go around and do the on/off thing to figure out what was going on...