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How To Add A Circuit Breaker To A Full Panel With No Empty Spaces

powerleg5 — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:39:27 +0000

Sometimes there is a need to add a circuit breaker to a panel that is already full of breakers. This can be done by replacing one or more single pole breakers with tandem breakers. A tandem breaker takes up only one space in the panel but it provides two circuits. It will have two handles with two separate lugs for the wires to go.

These tandem breakers are not to be confused with a double pole breaker which would take up two spaces in the panel and provide 240 volts. If you are needing to add just one 120 volt circuit to the panel then replacing one regular single pole breaker with one tandem breaker will do the trick.

If you need to add a double pole breaker for a 240 volt circuit then you would need to remove 4 regular single pole breakers from the panel which would open up 4 spaces and then put two tandem breakers in two of the spaces. These two tandem breakers will have the four places you need to feed the four wires from the removed breakers plus you will have the two empty spaces that you need for the new double pole breakers that you are adding.

For example, the four single pole breakers take up four spaces in the panel. Two tandem breaker only take up two spaces but give you the capability to re-feed all four wires from just two spaces in the panel, leaving you two open spaces for the new breaker.

There are a couple of things that you will need to verify before doing this. You must check the amperage rating for each single pole breaker that will be removed and make sure that the tandem breaker ratings match back up to each circuit. If all four breakers are rated at 20 amps each then you would need two tandem 20/20 breakers. You can also look at the wire size. #12 awg wire would go on a 20 amp breaker and #14 awg wire would need a 15 amp breaker.

If two were 20 amp and two were 15 amp breakers then you could get 1 tandem 20/20 and 1 tandem 15/15, or you could get two tandem 15/20 breakers.

The second thing to verify would be that all four romex cables are two conductor, in which they probably will be. You don’t want to have a 3 conductor cable that would be feeding two 120 volt circuits but using a common neutral and have those two hot wires from the same 3 conductor cable end up on a tandem breaker together. Two circuits that share a common neutral must be placed on opposite phases in the panel or you can overload the neutral.

See a Siemens Q2020 Tandem Breaker Here.

Shop For Breakers Here

My 4th Of July Salute

powerleg5 — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:04:16 +0000

The 4^th Of July I Will Never Forget

I am sure we all have memories of at least one 4^th Of July that stood out more than the rest for whatever reason even if you can’t remember the exact year but you do remember the event.

There is one embedded in my memory banks as one of those that will forever be included in mine. This particular 4^th wasn’t spent celebrating but it did include a close friend of mine who recently passed away. The two of us spent this 4^th together working at his shop. He was a welder and a very good one.

The reason we were working that night was my backhoe needed a repair made on the engine block. Special concerns have to be recognized and performed when welding cast iron. Temperature changes was one concern so he said that we could do this repair late at night and lock the shop doors so we would not be disturbed.

After working non stop for several hours we decided to take a sit down break and relax. One bit of conversation led to another and then I learned something that I never knew about my friend that was very painful for him to talk about. As a matter of fact he told me that he didn’t talk about it and I was one of the few that would ever hear him talk about it.

The conversation was about him and his time in Vietnam. I never knew he was a Vietnam Veteran. As he talked about it, his voice was very low and slow and I could see the pain in his face and hear it in his voice as he talked about it. He talked about the things that he had seen and the things that he had to do to stay alive.

He talked about the situations that forced him into making a choice and making it quickly to do what he had to do. Things that he didn’t want to do but had to do. Things that would forever be burned into his memory no matter how bad he wanted to forget. Things that would mentally and emotionally tear the strongest of men apart.

As I sat and listened, the tone of his voice made it evident that for this moment he was reliving that horror. I felt his pain as I wished there was something, anything that I could say or do to help him. But there wasn’t anything. The more he talked, the more he hurt and the more that I hurt for him. That one conversation on that one particular night caused me to look at him as a friend from an entirely different perspective. He gained more respect from me in a shorter amount of time than anyone, anywhere had ever gained from me before.

I learned that night that he had shrapnel buried in his body that could not be removed due to its placement and it caused him a lifetime of pain that he had to endure. I learned about his countless trips to the doctors that resulted in more bad news of the effects that he could expect and the dim view of any available treatment. I learned of the things that the doctors said he would never be able to do again and about the things that would only get worse and never get better.

I felt this huge empty spot growing inside me as I listened to him. I felt an even bigger hope growing inside me that someone, somewhere could be located that could help him. But he had accepted the fact that there was no one out there that could help him. He accepted the fact that the only choice he had was to live with the pain without complaining and that is exactly what he did.

Many times I pulled into his shop only to hear him singing as he worked. Always in a good mood and would bend over backwards to help those that needed him and his services. His many customers never knew of his pain that those words that he would sing had to pass through to make it to their ears.

He was one of the few that could gain access to anything that I had. Whether it be tools, equipment or anything else that he needed and I, luckily was one of the few that could go to him in the same manner. If I had it then he had it and vice versa. All of our stuff was one for each other.

I sadly watched over time as he began to slow down in what he attempted to do. Then I even more sadly watched as he began to fail at things that he did attempt to do. Things that he was able to do for years without even thinking about it. I offered my assistance every time I seen him struggle. I did what I could to help him in the only way I knew how.

My heart finally sank lower than ever when he had to sell his place and his shop that he loved. Then he moved away to another state and I never seen him again. The rock bottom moment was when another friend informed me that Larry had died. I realized at that point that I would never again be able to hear him sing as he worked. I realized then that I would never again get to feel the joy that it gave me to tell him when he called that I did have an item that he needed to borrow and I would have it over to him shortly.

I didn’t feel very good that day after receiving the news about his death. I knew that his pain had finally ceased and I felt relieved for that but I began hurting in a way that I also knew that there was not anything anyone could ever do to stop it. But now when I look back at that one night, on that 4th of July, I realize what a special night that really was and how much it really did mean to me to be able to spend it with my friend Larry.

If there is a person in your life that seems to fit the bill that Larry did in mine then why not take a few moments and give them a call on this 4^th of July. Tell them that you were thinking about them and if nothing else you just wanted to say hey.

I know that I would sure call my friend Larry, if only I could.

Instant Banner Maker

powerleg5 — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:29:58 +0000

In Only A Few Clicks You Can Create Amazing Flash Animated Banners That Grab Attention and Demand Action. All This Without The Costly Designer Fees Or Having To Use Photoshop OR Flash, Guaranteed!

Easy Banner Maker Pro V2

powerleg5 — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:29:57 +0000

Need website banners for your site? Looking for a way to save money on design fees? Need more promo materials (banners in all sizes) to give to your affiliates? What if you could simply design these banners yourself, in minutes, any time you needed to? Well look no further, because I have the perfect solution right here for you…..

What I have for you here is a do-it-yourself banner “maker” unlike any other. The problem with most other banner templates and “generators” out there is that, to put it simply, they just don’t create the results you’re looking for. You know what I mean….

You buy a banner pack or a software, try to use it, it ends up being too complicated and after hours of wasted time you end up with an amateurish design. So you end up hiring a designer, and in the end you’ve wasted money and time. Or worse yet, you decide to keep that amateurish banner and waste even more time and money with it.

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powerleg5 — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:27:31 +0000

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