I need to replace a faulty breaker. Here’s a picture of my main breaker box. There’s no master switch that I can see that shuts off power to all of the breakers.
Following the line up and out of the box, it runs along the basement ceiling and out through a hole in the foundation.
Let me know if you need to see something else.
Edit. Resolved! I found a master switch on the outside of the house in a panel adjacent to the meter. Weird that anyone can just walk up to my house and turn all of the power off.
Weird that anyone can just walk up to my house and turn all of the power off.
That’s the horror movie feature. Also, it’s safer for murderers to flip a switch than cut a wire. Please think of the murderers.
This is your complete breaker box? No RCCB/RCD device? Wow. Here, any electrician would basically be forced by law to take this off the net until it is upgraded to code.
Bucket of water
Man, that’s one nasty looking breaker box! Glad you found the master switch.
Lick it.
Take out big samurai sword and chop thru those cables like it’s the Gordian Knot
To turn it off, throw some water in it. No idea, though, how to turn it back on.
Nothing a good wad of C-4 can’t fix.
I guess it’s the 70 amp one.
That would make the:
- 15 amps for lighting
- 20 amps for room sockets
- 30 amps for washing machine and kitchen appliances
This is really strange that there is no master switch. Are you sure this isn’t a sub-panel which is wired into another breaker box somewhere else in the building? I’d go hunting, following the main wire.
There’s less than half of the number of breakers on here that I’d expect in a house.
My house is like that too. No master shutoff anywhere, so I’d have to call the power delivery company out to shut it off at the meter.
Have you looked at the meter box? Around here there will be a cover you can flip up under the meter head and turn off the breaker you find under it.
I recently found out this is code now where I live: you must have a master breaker outside with the meter. While I can understand the benefits from a safety and service point of view, this seems mostly like an invitation for “pranks”.
My electrician had to go through contortions to explain how one approach let him just make the change I needed whereas the other may have seemed cleaner but would require him to redo the service entrance to add an outside main breaker
That would never pass inspection here… Might depend on where you live I guess
I toured a house that still had TL fuses and cloth-wrapped electrical…No inspection needed in 2025 if it passed in 1940 and was never updated!
That’s normal. It’s meant to be that way. You only have to get up to current code when making major changes, and only for what you’re changing. If you always had to be up to date, no one could afford to maintain a house: you’d be making changes every year.
Yeah, I was just giving an example that inspections aren’t required. A less extreme example would be asbestos tiles/insulation but that’s not dangerous unless you damage it
Ugh. Cost-prohibitive to replace the panel with a main breaker ?
Last I looked it was like $1500
There is a subpanel that this one feeds. See the 70 amp breaker? That’s goes upstairs to another panel there.
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Check on the other side of that wall and see if the main breaker is there. I know it’s code now to have the main breaker on the outside of the house. I think it’s so power can be turned off when needed even if the homeowner isn’t home.
The other side of this wall is dirt. This is on an outside foundation wall
Look for the meter, not just the other side of the wall. There must be a meter somewhere
🤷That’s all I had.
You were kind of right. Check out my edit to the original post
Interesting. When I had my panel upgraded they had to put the main breaker right behind the panel. Guess they’ve got leeway if that’s not actually possible.
Probably depends on your locality. Got a new service 4 years ago and the only main breaker is in the service. The city can it it from the meter I suppose if they need to.
I’m no expert, but that doesn’t look up to code.
Was fine when it was put in, but code updated and old installations usually aren’t required to upgrade to meet new codes unless you try to change them substantially.
I think you’re needing to search for the main breaker. This is looking like a sub panel.
I dont know, but your breaker box has eyes
Hypnotic eyes!
If you can’t find a master breaker between this box and the meter, you can just yank the meter to kill power to the house. Be safe, wear insulated gloves etc etc.
This. But contact a local electrician before doing so.
Most places I’ve lived, you’re not permitted to remove the meter. You’ve gotta call in your electrical companies lineman for that. (or face some pretty substantial fines when they find the broken seal)
If the power company went after everyone who cut those seals, they would employ more lawyers than linemen. Nobody gives a shit if you pull the meter just so long as you don’t self-immolate or steal electricity.
The main thing is to make sure there’s no load on the panel (turn all appliances or fuses off). Loads can cause dangerous arcing, especially on reconnect.
Rubber gloves under leathers are standard PPE for meter work. Eye protection is non-negotiable. Anybody who’s comfortable opening a panel is ready to pull a meter. You don’t think the power company hires electricians to pull meters do you?
