My mom plugged in a hair blower than the breaker tripped. ( we have a old school breaker. Its operatted by fuses) I have replaced the blown fuse with a new one but we still have no power in some areas of the house.

Any suggestions will help.

You may have tripped the main fuse or another one that is on a pull out. The rectangular things have a wire handle to the side. You rotate until it is straight and pull it out.

Unfortunately, you may have to test the fuse with an ohmmeter or replace it to determine if it's bad.

Hi simple,

Ya your right it does have rectangular thing. My moms panel kind of looks like the one in the picture, but a little smaller.

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/attachments/electrical-lighting/3639d1179891799-cost-converting-fuse-box-circuit-breakers-100-amp-fuse-box002.jpg


So I just rotate it and pull it out? I'm not going to get electricuted or anything? Lol Its safe to pull it out while the main power is on?

And also, what should I do when I pull it out? Can you give me directions.

Thanks in advance.

I took a picture of one I had at home. See where the metal handle was rotated?

So, you would grab the metal handle and pull quickly, but not too quick. It's not a good idea to linger. When replacing the pullout, it will only go in one way. Again, line things up, insert a bit and push firmly.

When pulling the main, I'd try to make sure things are off and computers, TV's and microwaves are unplugged and make sure you have a flashlight that works so your not in the dark. The light in the room with the fuse box can be in the on position. Your creating a power fail and it really isn't a good thing to have them anyway.

I put two different cartridge fuses next to the holder. Physically they are different sizes.If this is the main fuse, then the fuses are likely larger.

Since you said that 1/2 of the stuff works, I'm suspecting the main fuse.

Without an ohmeter or continuity checker, it's going to be hard to test. You can create a continuity checker with a couple pieces of wire and some tape and a flashlight.

Turn on the flashlight and make sure it works. Remove the bottom of a flashlight and tape a wire to the bottom battery and tape another wire to the ring. Stuff some crumpled paper to put pressure on the lamp and act as a spring. Now if you take the two wires and touch them, the lamp should light.

With the pullout removed, you can place your wires at opposite ends of the fuse. If the flashlight lights the fuse is most likely good (99% chance). If it doesn't light make sure your tape is still holding by touching the two wires together as before. There is no need to remove the fuses.

Alternatively you can use a multimeter, cost <$25 or so and use the ohms function to test the fuse.

It is possible to test the fuses with an AC voltmeter without removing the pullout, but if you don't have a voltmeter then there is no use explaining how. Oh, all right. You can clip one of the voltmeter leads to ground. Any non painted part of the panel and insert the probe into each of the 4 or so holes on the front of the pullout. Each should read 120V with respect to ground.

Another thing, you can do is switch the fuses. If the other parts of the house work, then one of the fuses is bad.

This particular location was for a separately metered electric water heater which was common at one time.

Replace the cartridge fuse with one of the same type, if bad. You may have to go to an electrical supply house, Home Depot or Lowe's to get one.

Clearly, the voltmeter method is the easiest. Here are some multimeters at Lowe's. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productList&N=4294961544&Ne=4294967294&Ntk=i_products&Ntt=multimeter $26.00 for an autoranging one is pretty cheap.

Hopefully one of your pull outs is labeled MAIN. These were used for 240 V appliances such as water heaters, electric ranges and air conditioners. If there is one labeled for a single appliance, you can practice with it.

Do you have any more questions?