The electrical panel that almost burned our house down
Added 2024-03-27 23:14:44 +0000 UTCHi everyone, it's Nick.
Following up with some additional technical details on a fun story from one of our previous podcasts. To set the stage, Jenna and I were just about to start demolishing the kitchen. Since the kitchen appliances were permanently wired in, we needed to turn off power to all the breakers before beginning our work. Once we finished the demolition, safely taped off the loose wires, and turned the power back on, we noticed a smell.
I immediately ran downstairs to turn off the main breaker to the panel. It turned out that one of the breakers had become jammed in between the on and off positions... and the breaker itself was shorting (and smoking). After opening the windows and airing out the home, we realized how close we came to a disaster. Sometimes, even when you do everything correctly, things can be unpredictable.
The pictures above depict a small step-by-step process in stripping an electrical panel. It’s actually quite easy and relatively safe (as long as you know the basics and are careful). Here’s how I did it:
1) Turn off the main breaker (and lock it to prevent it from turning on). Check the wires with a voltage probe to ensure they are truly off.
2) Cut the wires and group them together by color (of course, don’t cut anything touching the main breaker).
3) Tape the wires together, tuck them in... and you're done! It's as simple as that.
4) In my case, I had an extra step of adding a new breaker and a new outlet for temporary use. Ta-da!
