Fuse panel

[Michael Martin]

Anyone see any isues with this 1960's GE split bus panel? I plan to put the house up for sale in the near future. The neutral/grounding busses, which cannot be seen very well, have only one conductor (both grounded and grounding) per hole. The two black wires at the top are connected to the subfeed lugs of the panel (which are protected by the main (upper) pullout) and run to a central A/C fused disconnect which is on the outside of the house almost right behind the panel. The upper pullout has 60A fuses; the lower (range) has 40A. The feeders are 2 AWG AL. All conductors on the circuits served by the two 20 A fuses are 12 AWG CU. The panel is rated at 125A, but the service appears to be 100A due to the feeder wire size. Thanks.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

I feel it would be to your advantage to upgrade to a new Breaker panel, SQ D would be my choice .
This also will make people buying the home happy as they will feel this home has been maintaned .
This is a huge concern to many people and some might not even consider looking further at the home.
In todays market it pays to get every one to look at the home.
My Thoughts ........ Cookie

[cbuell]

One question I have is why are all the wires coming into the panel through the loom newer type wire and where are the connections of these newer wires to the old knob and tube wiring made up? Like Cookie said---upgrade the service.

[Randy D. Stufflebeem]

Cookie hit the nail on the head
Randy

[Greg Fretwell]

I think it would be an irrational "happiness" on the part of the buyer. A shiny new breaker panel is not any safer than a properly installed and maintained type S fuse box. If there were no other upgrades to the system it would just be window dressing in my opinion.

[Michael Martin]

Originally Posted by Greg Fretwell

I think it would be an irrational "happiness" on the part of the buyer. A shiny new breaker panel is not any safer than a properly installed and maintained type S fuse box. If there were no other upgrades to the system it would just be window dressing in my opinion.

That's how I view the issue. I prefer the reliability and trip characteristics of fuses (relative to breakers) myself. And just this week a recall was issued on counterfeit Square Ds. You're not going to find fake Bussmans. But most buyers aren't electricians and I can sort of understand the average person's reaction to seeing a fuse box. Would you, as an inspector, recommend to a buyer client that this be converted to breakers? If so, why? As Greg noted, as long as the panel uses properly sized Type S fuses and is sufficient for the home's demands, I don't see an issue. But I will say that if this panel was surface mounted in the utility room (as opposed to flush mounted in the family room, which is where it is), I would have personally replaced it with a nice new QO panel to increase the home's appeal. But I just can't see shelling out $1200 to replace a perfectly fine box. In the 12 years I've been in the home, I've never had a blow from an overload. In answer to the earlier question, the house was, despite that fact that it was built in '66, wired with K&T -- including grounding conductors for the branch circuits. I have gone through the house and redone post-original construction tapping in junction boxes.

[Michael Martin]

Originally Posted by Greg Fretwell

I think it would be an irrational "happiness" on the part of the buyer. A shiny new breaker panel is not any safer than a properly installed and maintained type S fuse box. If there were no other upgrades to the system it would just be window dressing in my opinion.

That's how I view the issue. I prefer the reliability and trip characteristics of fuses (relative to breakers) myself. And just this week a recall was issued on counterfeit Square Ds. You're not going to find fake Bussmans. But most buyers aren't electricians and I can sort of understand the average person's reaction to seeing a fuse box. Would you, as an inspector, recommend to a buyer client that this be converted to breakers? If so, why? As Greg noted, as long as the panel uses properly sized Type S fuses and is sufficient for the home's demands, I don't see an issue. But I will say that if this panel was surface mounted in the utility room (as opposed to flush mounted in the family room, which is where it is), I would have personally replaced it with a nice new QO panel to increase the home's appeal. But I just can't see shelling out $1200 to replace a perfectly fine box. In the 12 years I've been in the home, I've never had a blow from an overload. In answer to the earlier question, the house was, despite that fact that it was built in '66, wired with K&T -- including grounding conductors for the branch circuits. I have gone through the house and redone post-original construction tapping in junction boxes.

[bzimbelman]

Originally Posted by Michael Martin

That's how I view the issue. I prefer the reliability and trip characteristics of fuses (relative to breakers) myself. And just this week a recall was issued on counterfeit Square Ds. You're not going to find fake Bussmans. But most buyers aren't electricians and I can sort of understand the average person's reaction to seeing a fuse box. Would you, as an inspector, recommend to a buyer client that this be converted to breakers? If so, why? As Greg noted, as long as the panel uses properly sized Type S fuses and is sufficient for the home's demands, I don't see an issue. But I will say that if this panel was surface mounted in the utility room (as opposed to flush mounted in the family room, which is where it is), I would have personally replaced it with a nice new QO panel to increase the home's appeal. But I just can't see shelling out $1200 to replace a perfectly fine box. In the 12 years I've been in the home, I've never had a blow from an overload. In answer to the earlier question, the house was, despite that fact that it was built in '66, wired with K&T -- including grounding conductors for the branch circuits. I have gone through the house and redone post-original construction tapping in junction boxes.

If there were no other issues with the electrical system, GFCIs, AFCIs, sufficient outlets all grounded and properly wired, sufficient service size, etc. then I would not call out that box as an issue, but I would mention it in the report and walkthru. I always explain to folks when there are fuses involved that they need to have plenty on hand, etc.

Now, I will say that 99% of the time if I see a box like that, I will find other electrical issues and call for an electrician to eval and repair as needed. That is just my experience, yours may vary.

Oh, and most of the time if you get an electrician looking over the system he will find many more issues that need addressing as he will want to rewire the entire place, etc.

Good Luck!