Very slightly OT: Circuit breaker compatibility

They don't have electrical inspectors in Californica? A breaker without an enclosure?

Somewhere you can look up compatibility. I had the problem many years ago when I needed to replace the pool breaker that had failed. Somewhere on the web I found a guide. ...Jim Thompson

Breaker-Q225/100183751

You could always try it and return it if it didn't obviously fit.

And yes, the whole "each brand is incompatible" thing is a royal pain in the ass.

Oh, it has an enclosure. Inspection ... phhhht ... I don't know how that ever passed.

I found them as well. However, even their own search site does not find the breakers that were in there:

Problem is, manufacturers change the stuff a lot so new stuff may not fit a 30-40 year old panel. That sure was better in Europe, all standardized and you were independent of manufacturers.

Yeah, might combine that with a bike ride. Probably lots of bike rides to lots of places until something fits. At least that causes me to lose weight.

Even amongst their own products there is incompatibility with many manufacturers. Same with faucets. I learned that (at least in the US) it does not pay to invest in high-Dollar name-brand fixtures because 20 years down the road it's anyone's guess whether you can still find spares. Better to use a good hardware store model and replace the whole thing when it wears out.

Is there a Habitat for Humanity Re-Store near you? They have all sorts of salvaged materials, including panels and breakers at ours. If they don't happen to have the right kind, somebody there might know an old hardware store that has a lot of old stock.

Jon

sounds like we got it better here

NT

Do you not have standard DIN rail mounted breakers over there?

Ouch. That looks even worse than here.

In the US we also have the phenomenon that a series is dropped completely. For example, here at the house we have Zinsco panels for which there are no more breakers. Used ones almost cost collectors prices and aftermarket ones used to be "a Dollar an amp" and now it's more like "two Dollars an amp".

No :-(

Oh how I miss those. In Germany I could walk into a hardware store, get pretty much any 16A or 25A breaker du jour, click it in, connect the wire, close the panel and call it a day. However, some panels in Germany were sealed and regular folks weren't supposed to open them. If the meter reader saw that seal missing his eyebrows would narrow.