Clean AC power

@ vgizzi

The majority of "dirty power" in the home is created by electrical usage items found in the home.

Examples;
LED lighting.
Electronic ballasts/florescent lighting.
Light dimmers.
Switched mode power supplies.
Appliance/equipment micro processors.
Computers.
Air handler VFD (Variable Frequency Drive).
Switching on and switching off of electrical motors.
Hair dryers.
Excessive unbalanced 120V loads on the electrical service.
Loose and or corroded electrical connections. ( can/will cause excessive harmonic distortion on the mains.   
Last but not least, audio equipment.

vgizzi OP6 posts

07-05-2021
10:31am

4krowme, The grunge I cleaned off wasn’t greasy, or oily like the de-oxit spray. It was the sort of powdery oxidation that’s so common.

Are you referring to the line side of the breaker contact to the Hot bus tap connection? Is the electrical panel Line bus copper or aluminum? If copper is it bare or plated? Manufacturer of electrical panel?


How did you clean the electrical connections surfaces? Abrasives should not be used on electrical aluminum bus in an electrical panel. The aluminum bus and aluminum alloy neutral/ground bars are plated. Even light sanding can remove the thin plating.

Also, I have the same question about a dedicated circuit. What is it actually doing?

Basically a dedicated wiring circuit is used to feed a specific, dedicated, load(s). Like audio equipment.


Unlike a convenience outlet branch circuit that may feed several outlets and in some cases will also feed ceiling lighting fixtures/lights. The convenience outlet branch circuit has many electrical connections. With the passage of time and connected varying loads over time the connections may/will loosen and or corrode. (Methods used for making the connections can very. From very good, to not so good). Poor electrical connections can add series resistance to the branch circuit wiring. Also a loose and or corroded connection can cause micro arcing which can/will create electrical noise on the wiring. Add to that the integrity of the wall duplex receptacle female contacts. Most houses have cheap residential grade outlets installed. With the passage of time, and use, the outlets lose their contact pressure and ability to grip the male plug tightly. When a load is connected the poor contact connections will cause micro arcing and put noise back onto the branch circuit wiring. Last but not least the loads that are connected to the convenience outlet branch circuit will add their own noise directly onto the circuit wiring.


A dedicated branch circuit in most cases will not have any splices/connections from the breaker, neutral, and equipment ground connection in the electrical panel to the electrical wall outlet. No other loads are connected directly to the branch circuit.

The type of branch circuit wiring used and wiring method used can greatly influence the quality of how your audio system will sound.

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vgizzi OP7 posts

07-05-2021
12:59pmjea48:

My panel is a Challenger SB40. The buss material is hard to determine; it is clearly not raw copper, but has a shiny metallic finish. The contacts in the breaker are copper.

@ vgizzi

Approximately what year was the house built?

vgizzi OP8 posts

07-05-2021
4:22pm

1992

@ vgizzi

Your electrical panel may be an electrical fire hazard just waiting to happen.
I strongly suggest you hire a licensed electrician to check it out. I also recommend you do not pull the panel cover off again until you do.


Here are a few links for you to read:

https://waypointinspection.com/issues-with-challenger-panels/

https://pennaelectric.com/electrician-blog/unsafe-outdated-electrical-panels/

https://inspectapedia.com/electric/Challenger_Electrical_Panels.php

https://streamlineelectric.com/challenger-panels/

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vgizzi OP9 posts

07-06-2021
11:03am

jea48: Who would have thought that cleaning a circuit breaker’s contacts would be so dangerous? Should I move my family to a hotel until the problem can be fixed?

Should I move my family to a hotel until the problem can be fixed?

LOL, No.... Just don’t try to overload a 15 or 20 amp circuit to see if the breaker will trip open. It may or it may not trip open.
House was built in 1992 and it is still standing.

When the electrician comes out to look at the panel he will pull out the breakers, (not all at once) and inspect the breaker bus connectors for arcing damage as well as the connector on the Line side of the breakers. He may also look for discoloration on the branch circuit breaker hot conductors insulation as well as the branch circuit neutral wire insulation for discoloration. (Two causes. Loose connection. Wire overloaded for an extended time for possibly months or years).

If by chance in the winter months you use a portable electric space heater I would suggest you have the electrician pull the wall duplex receptacle(s) out of the wall box where the heater was plugged in and inspect the wire connections on the outlet. If the circuit was overloaded for hours upon hours over time the wire at the terminals will be discolored. Insulation on the wires near the terminations will be discolored, maybe brittle and or cracked. If the duplex outlets were used for in and out connections for the branch circuit wiring then all duplex outlets upstream toward the electrical panel on the circuit should be checked for damage.
15 amp branch circuits, 14awg wire, are the most abused, overloaded, by things like portable space heaters and such.


It may have been a blessing you cleaned the terminations on the load side of the breaker and posted it here on your thread.
You can thank @ 4krowme for peaking my interest and asking you who the manufacturer of the panel is/was.

I am not familiar with Challenger electrical panels. I have never seen one around here. I am quite familiar with FPE (commonly called F****ing Poor Equipment), and Zinsco (GTE-Sylvania). Both were sued out of existence.

Some of their breakers might trip open. Others were/are nothing more than ON/OFF disconnect switches.