I'm not certain which sub-forum to post my issue, so into "general" it goes. This is my eleventyith revision (in a quest for brevity and clarity) and I'm going with it. And with those caveats out of the way...
I needed to replace a kitchen receptacle. I flipped each 20amp breaker in the panel--none are labeled. The kitchen receptacle still had power. Rather than hunt through 15amp breakers (also unlabeled) I decided to throw the main breaker. But no main breaker exists in the panel. Turns out, the main breaker is inside a box mounted outside of my house near the meter. So I flipped that breaker. The kitchen receptacle still had power. I then flipped every breaker in both boxes, one of which killed power to the kitchen receptacle.
Clearly some things are amiss. Before I contact a licensed electrician, I want to gain a modicum of understanding of the nature and magnitude of the problem(s) I discovered.
The house was built in 1988, though I sincerely doubt that detail brings any relevance insofar as NEC revisions are concerned here.
Pertinent questions:
1) Why is a kitchen receptacle not on a 20amp circuit
2) Why would a primary and sub panels be installed as they are
2) Why does an external breaker box exist at all
3) Why is the main breaker to the house located within an exterior panel
4) Why does the interior panel NOT have a main breaker for the panel bus
I replaced that receptacle though, so that's nice.
I needed to replace a kitchen receptacle. I flipped each 20amp breaker in the panel--none are labeled. The kitchen receptacle still had power. Rather than hunt through 15amp breakers (also unlabeled) I decided to throw the main breaker. But no main breaker exists in the panel. Turns out, the main breaker is inside a box mounted outside of my house near the meter. So I flipped that breaker. The kitchen receptacle still had power. I then flipped every breaker in both boxes, one of which killed power to the kitchen receptacle.
Clearly some things are amiss. Before I contact a licensed electrician, I want to gain a modicum of understanding of the nature and magnitude of the problem(s) I discovered.
The house was built in 1988, though I sincerely doubt that detail brings any relevance insofar as NEC revisions are concerned here.
Pertinent questions:
1) Why is a kitchen receptacle not on a 20amp circuit
2) Why would a primary and sub panels be installed as they are
2) Why does an external breaker box exist at all
3) Why is the main breaker to the house located within an exterior panel
4) Why does the interior panel NOT have a main breaker for the panel bus
I replaced that receptacle though, so that's nice.