Home Improvement → [Electrical] Cutler Hammer & Westinghouse Circuit Breakers

My previous circuit breakers in my panel box were Westinghouse. Can the Cutler Hammer breakers serve as a replacement? All the stats are the same including volts, amps, kva, etc. I've also taken the time to clean out my panel box to a certain degree with the power completely turned off using isopropyl alcohol and a grounding mat on the bottom. I'm also interested in reliability of these manufacturers. I'm going to have quite a few higher energy using products on the circuit in my house including PC and portable air conditioner.

A few confirmations or even your experience with the breakers would be much appreciated, thank you!

please, can you show a photo of the panel?
is it old?

probly a good idea to disconnect the meter or similar, for extra safety, when working in the box.

if the panel and breakers are old, the most common cause of electrical intermittents is oxidized corroded contacts between the breakers and the back contacts. with power off, and breakers all out, check to see if the back contacts look oxidized. if so, clean them lightly with fine sandpaper. clean out the loose sand after. still with power off to the panel, check to see that the whole rows of back contacts are inplace and not loose and not damaged. some boxes have replaceable back contacts. others need the whole contact/plastic assembly changed if damaged. or if multiple problems, just go with a new box.

for cleaning the contacts in old breakers, use an emery board or folded sandpaper to fit inside the contact slots. if the breaker seems to fit loosely, you can bend the metal contacts closer together for tighter fit.

while you are in the box with the power off, also redo every wire's screw contact. loosen the screw a turn or two, take the wire out to inspect for corrosion oxidation. reinsert, twist or wiggle the wire to reorient its surfaces, and retighten the screw.

other than those preventives, to maintain good contacts, you could also check and or redo the wiring to whatever outlets you will be pulling the high current from, to make sure there are good contacts at the outlet itself too.

in general, the different companies make interchangeable breakers.

See this from Eaton, type BR breakers ...

»www.eatonenewsletterbuil ··· sAid.pdf

Check out these classified Eaton circuit breakers. Contact Eaton technical support to find out if they are approved for use in a Westinghouse panel. The benefit of using these circuit breakers is that they are UL approved for use in many other manufactures panels.

I'm a little suspicious of this thread, but I'll bite.
A lot of bad advice in one anon post above. What kind of Westinghouse breakers are they (model numbers please)?
Most Westinghouse BR style breakers can be readily replaced with off the shelf Cutler-Hammer BR style breakers - without having to a a premium for the "CL" type breakers.

Connecticut Electric and Thomas & Betts also make listed breakers for Westinghouse.

It's probably not a good idea to clean your breaker panel internals with alcohol. What happened to the old breakers? Why are they gone?
If your panel is crudded up or got wet, then it's silly to even putz around with it. Buy a new modern panel.

Unfortunately, while the poster may mean well; most of this is bad advice including:

quote:

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between the breakers and the back contacts. with power off, and breakers all out, check to see if the back contacts look oxidized. if so, clean them lightly with fine sandpaper.

for cleaning the contacts in old breakers, use an emery board or folded sandpaper to fit inside the contact slots.

if the breaker seems to fit loosely, you can bend the metal contacts closer together for tighter fit.

twist or wiggle the wire to reorient its surfaces, and re-tighten the screw.

in general, the different companies make interchangeable breakers.

---

All bad amateur advice. I could sit here and tell you what the problem is with each of these ideas; but not worth my time or yours. Do not perform any of these functions.

You can, however, get the manufacturer's maintenance instructions on-line and follow those instructions. Unfortunately, there is very little one can do to 'fix' a poorly maintained home load center; aside from completely replacing it. The conductors in a circuit breaker panel could have been maintained by proper periodic application of anti-oxidant compound. That's really it. Once the metals corrode or pit, using abrasives on them will only make them worse.

If one does want to clean off the ends of the wire; the only way is to cut off the exposed end, re-strip and re-install into the breaker, torquing the screw properly. Never re-use a wire end that has been compressed. It will only end up fatiguing and breaking. Re-strip.

When I see "higher energy using products" and "breaker replacement" in the same paragraph the thoughts that pop into my head are:

- Are the batteries in your smoke detectors still fresh ?
- When did you last test your smoke detectors ?
- Are you and your family members aware of emergency exit routes ?
- What about alternate exit routes if the normal way is blocked by fire ?

The reason for those thoughts (in case it isn't obvious) is that far too often when people are faced with this situation (where the load exceeds the current limit of the breaker) the chosen solution is to simply replace the breaker with a higher rated one. After all it is cheaper and a lot less effort to just replace the breaker then to install a complete new circuit.

I realize that you haven't said anything about how you plan to address the need for more power in your case but I do hope you that you will keep safety in mind. A professionally installed new circuit is not nearly as expensive as the damage to life and property that can result from an overloaded electric circuit.

P.S.: for those that wonder why I didn't include a question about a fire extinguisher in the list above:
while you should have in your home (near the kitchen and near the garage are good places since those are the places where home fires most often start), an electrical fire from an overloaded wire in wall or ceiling is likely to be well established before you notice it. It is also difficult to access and probably impossible to extinguish as long as electricity is continuing to provide heat. You really need to get out and call 911 in such a situation (if you can do so safely, shut off the breakers).

I think this is a job best for a licensed electrician. It sounds like the panel needs to be replaced, which requires the poco to pull the meter and many jurisdictions require a permit for panel replacement.

If the contacts need cleaning and he's replacing the breakers I'm thinking water damage. I've done many electrical jobs but I'd probably hire an electrician for a panel replacement/upgrade.

My panel has Challenger breakers (I think Challenger may be a Westinghouse brand) but the panel is Crouse-Hinds. I had a breaker go bad I used a Murray.

REALLY..... you surprised me LOL

A breaker replacement or adding a breaker for a new circuit I'd do myself but a panel replacement I'd hire an electrician.

It sounds like the OP needs a new panel because my question is why does the contacts in the panel need to be cleaned. It sounds like the basement might have taken on water as there is corrosion present. Corrosion doesn't appear on it's own. When I worked in my panel (installed in 1988 when house was built), it looked good as new.