Need help with older style fuse box in a 1950s home

[easymoney]

in the early 50s those boxes was what was used for most country homes. the fuse on the left was a 60 amp and  was the only main fuse in the system no other disconnect, the one on the right was marked range and was i believe a 30 amp or 40 amp. the screw in fuses could be either a 15-20-or 30 amp as either would screw in the socket' later they put in adapters to keep you from putting in a larger fuse than the adapter would take. there was no arrangements for either a water heater or dryer as few homes had either. this was before circuit breakers and all of the wall plugs had only two wires. no third wire safety ground. that house was probably built and wired in the 50s or earlier.

[beenthere]

OX
Sounds like what you have is a typical 60 service box.

Check this video out to see if it is similar, and if so has a good explanation of the component parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEVrXaVl_KU

[Ox]

beenthere - that is exactly what that box looked like in Ma's house.  Thanks for that video - it's exactly the information I was searching for, if only for my own learning.  Stupid me, it didn't even occur to me to try YouTube even though I go there all the time gleaning knowledge.  Thank you!

low_48 - Please re-read my earlier postings about successfully running my own off-grid electrical generating system.  I built the generator from scratch using a Lister/Petter STZ-1 diesel engine direct driven through a chain coupler to a 5kw ST alternator head 4 pole generator (which needs half the RPM to generate 240V as the standard box store generators, increasing the longevity 4 times [double the speed, 4 times the wear, halve the speed and gain 4 times longevity])  and provided my family with power for almost a month straight, 24 hours a day running.  I know what I'm doing with breaker box type distribution panels.  I've completely rewired my whole shop with 240 and 120 in the ceiling and walls.  I've installed my own double wide mobile home and did the main feed myself and it was inspected and passed by the county code enforcement officer.  I've helped people wire their houses and shops.  I know a little about a little.  I was simply asking the friendly guys on this forum what they knew about the older style fuse boxes.  These guys are the smartest I've ever met (albeit online), who have walked all types of shoes and come from all walks of life, and I was confident that at least one of them would know and share the knowledge I was searching for.  I wasn't let down.  I love this place and the men who share their knowledge and experience.  Once again - if I was allowed to do my deductive reasoning type testing with some simple electrical measuring tools I would have figured it out easily.  I found your post a little snarky and unnecessary.  Your post was not helpful in any way.  The others were.

Again, thanks to all for all the suggestions and thoughts.  I finally have the info I was looking for, even though I won't be able to do anything with it.  I'll file it away in my brain for future reference and hopefully it sticks!  I thoroughly enjoy learning new things, especially if it helps me become even more self sufficient.

[low_48]

Sorry I offended you Ox, but never heard of anyone with all your electrical experience and knowledge call Bussman cartridge fuses as "two large black squares above that with pull handles on them". I guess I just made a judgement based on that description. You have to admit, at least I didn't suggest you could kill a lineman like some others did! ;)

[Ox]

Thanks for your reply, low_48.  I appreciate it.  I can totally understand how my lack of the proper words, which I so desperately wanted to use, would cause someone to think I was lacking in much, if any, knowledge.  In this case when I couldn't find the right words in my sometimes lacking brain I resorted to the ultimate in simplicity and pretended I was trying to describe the cartridge fuses to a person who's never seen them before in hopes this would get my point across.  It seems it worked!  Have a good one - Ox

Again, thanks to all.  I've learned something new and I absolutely love it.  I've successfully committed this new found knowledge to memory.

[r.man]

I have learned a bit about older stuff myself, I have never seen a fuse box that looks like the one in the video. I was picturing a block of screw in fuses two by two with the two stove blocks above each other. I expect that the style pictured has never been legal in Ontario since I have never seen one and I have seen lots of older small fuse panels with the same number of fuses, just not in that configuration. Glad to have participated in a successful search for information.

[pineywoods]

I didn't catch it from the verbal description, but the pic rang a bell. The old farmhouse on wife's old homeplace was wired for electric in 1942. It had a box exactly like the pic. I suspect the box was provided by a local co-op through the REA. The house was torn down in 1961 and a new one built on the site. I did the wiring. The family insisted I use the old electrical service. I flatly refused and installed a 200 amp 220V breaker panel.

[Ox]

That same box is what I remember in the old family cabin/camp up in the Adirondacks, up an old sand road (used to be sand anyway) called Number Four, a little distance from Lowville.  Named Number Four Rd. because the old Number Four firetower was on that road.  I remember as a youngster climbing all the way up that thing with the folks and the ranger allowed us up through the trap door to look around.  You could see for miles in all directions.

The old fuse box in that old camp had pennies in behind every one of those cat's eye fuses. 
It's a wonder we didn't burn up in the night, but my uncle ended up selling it and the old camp survived to be torn down eventually.

I also remember an old black and white TV that took several minutes to warm up until the picture showed up.  We had to fetch water from down the road from a pipe on the side of the road and used an outhouse.  There was a chamber pot to use at night if needed because of the reality of bears lurking around at night.  Took what was called "spit baths" out of a large washpan set up outside because there was no bathroom or drains in the floor of the cabin.  The skeeters would look like freckles on your naked body while ma tried her best to keep them washed off.  I haven't been to that camp since I was about 8 or so.  Whew.  It's been 30 years already.

[Hilltop366]

I have only seen two different ways to safely run a generator on a electrical panel, one is the transfer switch on the feed and the other is a transfer switch on a sub-panel that is normally fed from the main panel. The sub panel has all the circuits that you would want to run on the generator.

Another low cost option I used to run my wood boiler in a power interruption....

 

We have only lost power once here long enough that I wanted to power up my wood boiler so I pulled the wire from the panel and installed a plug on it and powered it with an inverter, after the power was back on I had the idea to put a single receptacle along side the panel powered from the wood boiler breaker and plug the wire for the boiler into it. I asked an electrician if it was a good idea or not he said he had never see it before but it is 100% safe.  So for about $8 it is ready to go, of coarse we haven't lost power long enough to bother since.

[Ox]

That's perfect!  Good idea using an inverter for the basics, like heat.  We must always remember to just use common sense with electricity.  Simply turning off the main breaker to disconnect from the grid and backfeeding from the generator to an outlet will suffice in a power outage situation.  And it's safe.  Transfer switches are easy to use and "foolproof" but an unnecessary cost in my eyes (some local codes may require a transfer switch, I'm assuming, but it's asinine).  Just for the illusion of safety and the convenience of throwing one switch instead of flipping one breaker and plugging in one cord.  I'll keep those hundreds of dollars right in my pocket!  :D

[Kbeitz]

This is the transfer switch I put in my home.



 

And my Gen-set



 

[jwilly3879]

I installed a lockout on our panel. The breaker from the generator cannot be turned on until the main breaker is in the off postion. It is 100% foolproof and legal.

I'm not sure where I got it but if anyone is interested I see if I can find the info.

[Ox]

Kbeitz, I like the way your mind works and your ideas.  That looks like an older 8 or 10 B&S engine, mated to what I assume to be a 2 pole generator head at 3600 rpm?  I like that collapsible box.

jwilly, that sounds like a good system for absolute accuracy in isolating from the main grid and powering up your home so no mistakes are made.

[gww]

I have two transfer switches in my home.  One cost $400 something and was prewired from northern tool Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company.  The other is home made and is nothing more then two 50 amp 240 volt breakers.  I bent a welding rod into a shape that I could attach it to the two breakers where it would only allow one of the breakers to be on at a time.  Cheep and full proof.  Both breakers can be off but only one can be turned on at a time.  either the grid or the generator is on but can't both be on.
Cheers
gww

Ps I was not advertising for northern toolhttps://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=position"> Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company.  I felt stupid for spending this amount after figuring out how simple it was to make my own.

[r.man]

I see that some companies have an interlock kit available for some breaker panels. Locks out the generator feed in breaker unless the main is turned off. You would have to check the legality of the kit in any particular area but it would be an extremely cheap alternative to all other legal methods.