Just bought an old 2 bed 2 bath 1949 raised foundation home, 2 car garage, 1200 sq. ft. I have an old Zinsco box as seen in the pictures. At a point in time the house had an addition added on to it and new grounded circuits were added. I have turned each breaker off one by one and marked which lights, outlets, and what not are being turned off, so I can figure out what is on what circuit and if it is overloaded. I have a few questions. But it depends on what’s going on with this first question…
When I turn off breaker 1 or 3 nothing happens. Only when I turn off breakers 1 (15AMP) AND 3 (20AMP) is when the power is turned off to the circuits. But when they are both turned off A LOT of thing are turned off in the house. All plugs and lights in the guest bedroom (2 plugs and 1 ceiling fan), All plugs and lights in the living room (3 plugs {one for fridge and TV}, and one ceiling fan), one porch light, 2 hall lights, a bathroom light, kitchen light, dining room ceiling fan, laundry light and plug, and the microwave plug are all off.
Now none of these things are in the new construction and as seen in the picture the RED wires from 1 and 3 go into the OLD box for the OLD construction.
Now to figure out the question.
Judging by the wire coming out of breakers 1 and 3, I’d say they are close to a 10 gauge wire, which I believe is rated for about 35A. Now with both breakers in parallel the amperage is 35A. So it kind of makes sense there are so many things on one circuit, that for whatever reason was never put on a single breaker but used two existing breakers to get 35A. And the plugs and lights are definitely not 10 gauge at the wall but I think it is all 12 gauge.
So, is this something that somebody has seen or done before? I also attached a spreadsheet of everything that the breakers are controlling. Note there are multiple breakers that do nothing when turned off. I also have another 240V circuit that I can’t find anywhere. One is for the current AC that was recently installed, and the other is untraceable and I can’t find it and it seems to do nothing.
A little more info about the house…
Used to have a gas floor furnace, from what I can tell always had gas dryer, gas stove. It used to have a large wall AC unit or swamp cooler installed on one wall, but it’s got a dedicated 120V circuit right next to it and another junction box next to it on a separate circuit that is 120V as well (So I imagine it was never wired for 240V since a dedicated 120V circuit is right next to it). Then a 240V circuit was clearly added for the central AC unit in the backyard.
Any help or incite to this much appreciated! :thumbup:
When I turn off breaker 1 or 3 nothing happens. Only when I turn off breakers 1 (15AMP) AND 3 (20AMP) is when the power is turned off to the circuits. But when they are both turned off A LOT of thing are turned off in the house. All plugs and lights in the guest bedroom (2 plugs and 1 ceiling fan), All plugs and lights in the living room (3 plugs {one for fridge and TV}, and one ceiling fan), one porch light, 2 hall lights, a bathroom light, kitchen light, dining room ceiling fan, laundry light and plug, and the microwave plug are all off.
Now none of these things are in the new construction and as seen in the picture the RED wires from 1 and 3 go into the OLD box for the OLD construction.
Now to figure out the question.
Judging by the wire coming out of breakers 1 and 3, I’d say they are close to a 10 gauge wire, which I believe is rated for about 35A. Now with both breakers in parallel the amperage is 35A. So it kind of makes sense there are so many things on one circuit, that for whatever reason was never put on a single breaker but used two existing breakers to get 35A. And the plugs and lights are definitely not 10 gauge at the wall but I think it is all 12 gauge.
So, is this something that somebody has seen or done before? I also attached a spreadsheet of everything that the breakers are controlling. Note there are multiple breakers that do nothing when turned off. I also have another 240V circuit that I can’t find anywhere. One is for the current AC that was recently installed, and the other is untraceable and I can’t find it and it seems to do nothing.
A little more info about the house…
Used to have a gas floor furnace, from what I can tell always had gas dryer, gas stove. It used to have a large wall AC unit or swamp cooler installed on one wall, but it’s got a dedicated 120V circuit right next to it and another junction box next to it on a separate circuit that is 120V as well (So I imagine it was never wired for 240V since a dedicated 120V circuit is right next to it). Then a 240V circuit was clearly added for the central AC unit in the backyard.
Any help or incite to this much appreciated! :thumbup: