Repairing a breaker

[pentium]

I have these two westinghouse breakers that with the moving of a wire from one terminal to another converts it into a 2-pole cutoff switch.
I use them as a way to allow me to work on the meter I have installed in my room ( I use a LOT of power) as well as to isolate the electrical outlets in my room.

Recently the one for my Silicon Graphics desksides has been starting to arc and things got serious this afternoon when I started to smell overheating bakelite and opened the switch to see one of the contacts glowing red and arcing uncontrollably.
I switched the power off and removed the breaker and have went with my dremel and ground all the contact surfaces in the affected area until I no longer saw pitting and a resistance check is giving me 1.3 Ohms. The problem is that I did this once before and it happened again. Is there any way to ensure a good connection this time around? I don't think I can do this again.
I would also rather not burn the house down.

EDIT: I can post pics of the breaker on request.

[Wizard]

Re: Repairing a breaker

1.3ohms is still no good. Replace breaker. Once burnt it's junk. And heat changes the structure of the rolled, heat treatment of steel and stamped parts is permanently ruined.

Safety FIRST especially the mains power.

Cheers, Wizard

[pentium]

Re: Repairing a breaker

*sigh* I was afraid of that.

[Krankshaft]

Re: Repairing a breaker

My house used to have blade switches on the mains too they were replaced in the 80s .

Those things frighten me and I work with mains voltage all the time. I don't like all of the exposed contact area.

I always think of raising Frankenstein's monster.

Is that Romex coming out of that recepticle plug ?

I don't know about you but my inspector would slap me if they saw anything even close to what you have there .

[Harvey]

Re: Repairing a breaker

Hmmm.. looks rather dangerously thin wire to me...

[pentium]

Re: Repairing a breaker

Hmmm.. looks rather dangerously thin wire to me...

Nope, it's all up to standard. Trust me, the wiring won't fail.

Is that Romex coming out of that recepticle plug

15A Romex to be correct.

I don't know about you but my inspector would slap me if they saw anything even close to what you have there

Ssh!

[pentium]

Re: Repairing a breaker

Well I got it down to .7 ohms which is exactly the same as the other pole in the switch which was not damaged. Is that any better?

[pentium]

Re: Repairing a breaker

damn, editing time limit...
Another thing I forgot to mention is that pretty much the whole thing uses brass with the exception of the optional breaker heater and the spring-loaded switch assembly.

[Wizard]

Re: Repairing a breaker

the contact buttons are specially made with different metal, grind this off and it's no good for long term.

Cheers, Wizard

[pentium]

Re: Repairing a breaker

I don't get you.
The contacts and terminals on this thing are solid brass.

[kc8adu]

Re: Repairing a breaker

throw it out already.
not worth the risk.
you cannot be sure it will trip when it needs to.
do you sleep in a nomex suit?

[pentium]

Re: Repairing a breaker

Fine.
The problem now is finding two new cutoff switches to replace it.
Not only do they have to be somewhat small but they both need to have the ability to be locked out as well as at least have two poles per switch.

[malmal]

Re: Repairing a breaker

How many ohms indicated with the leads touching each other?
Dont know if that VOM is good enough.
You could put 15 amps through the breaker and measure the voltage drop. IICR the normal max drop should be under 50 mv.
Please correct me if the drop is incorrect.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Repairing a breaker

It would cost more in set-up and materials than just buying replacements but contacts can be repaired. With our gear if we were out to sea and had to fix a switch or breaker contact like RIGHT NOW then we would electroplate them with silver. It was an approve procedure even for NUC gear. Silver is preferred because it is harder than gold and silver oxide is nearly as conductive as silver.

[pentium]

Re: Repairing a breaker

I could try plating it in copper some day but for now I think I have found suitable replacemens at the local used construction supplies facility. They even have lock-out slots so I can pass a bar through the switches and keep them either on or off. They are also rated for 20A. Cost: $20 for the pair AND they are Allen Bradley (a brand I know well)

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Repairing a breaker

Copper would work if you have the right alloy. I don't know what alloy that would be though. There are hard and soft alloys of copper. You would need one of the hard ones. I did once fix some eroded copper the contacts in a Chrysler starter solenoid by brazing over it using a bronze rod and then grinding it back down. That was tricky to do but turned out to be a permanent fix.

[pentium]

Re: Repairing a breaker

What about electrolysis?

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Repairing a breaker

I think you mean electroplating like I mentioned before about silver.
Electrolysis is a process to separate things, not put them together.
.
You'd need to study some chemistry, buy some chemicals, get a tank, build an agitator, have a suitable DC power supply, and to know how to play with the chemicals to get the alloy you want.
.
For the silver plating we did we just ordered the kit already designed for our application. The closed thing to chemistry we had to do was measure amounts per the directions in the kits.

.

[pentium]

Re: Repairing a breaker

Okay then, I'll just install the new switches.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Repairing a breaker

That makes more sense.
I wasn't trying suggest you repair those. Not practical.
I was just pointing out that if there was enough of a need to it could be done.