REPOST: Please help identify old Cutler Hammer circuit breaker

Repost to provide the correct picture of the metal bar. Please note that I
have exhausted the largest local electric supply house, Home Depot, eBay,
ETA (internet search of catalog), etc.

I bought a very old house and have difficulty finding a replacement circuit
breaker. The control panel is labeled as Cutler Hammer. The closest
circuit breaker I can find locally is CH130 (1 pole, 30A), shown at the top
of
http://home.comcast.net/~cfjwang/CH-Breakers.jpg . The bottom part is the
one I am trying to replace. It has a notch on one side. There is metal bar
inside the control panel that prevents the CH130 from being plugged in,
while the notch on the old circuit breaker allows for the insertion. (The
metal bar is shown in the lower middle part of
http://home.comcast.net/~cfjwang/Bar.jpg).

Can anyone help me identify what type of circuit breaker this is and where I
can buy these?

Best regards,

Jerry

 

Have you pulled the box open? I'd expect a list of compatible breaker
types on the box itself.

Then, I'd contact Eaton directly...

Home Owner Support Center
-All general inquiries regarding Eaton residential products.
1-800-525-2000

 

Probably time to start searching/calling the obsolete breaker people. Eaton
will not have those.

 

It looks like an obsolete "CH" breaker. They've changed the design and the
new "CH" breakers have plastic feet as opposed to metal feet and no notch in
them, so they won't fit in your obsolete panel. I'd call local electricians
and ask them as many have old stuff hanging around

 

Duane,

I guess I did not try hard enough. This time I found "CH410" and "Use CH
breaker" very deep inside the control box wall.

It appears that the CH series products experienced a tooling change and the
new ones are no longer compatible to the old ones. I still have a
challenge, i.e., to find an old CH circuit breaker, but at least I know
which direction to go now.

Thanks for the useful hint.

Jerry

 

This is correct. Per Duane's suggestion I found a label deep inside the
control box. The box is CH410 and it also says "use CH circuit breakers".

Thanks for the help.

Jerry

 

Or surprised at how much...

 

Go on ebay - I bought some "out of print" circuit breakers on ebay for
my son's house. If yours are "out of print" - people on ebay know they
are worth something - and they get them and sell them.

 

I bought a "Value Pack" consisting of a 200A CH panel + main breakers
and several other breakers (forget how many) at Lowe's for approx. $150.

Perce

 

The panel installation date is marked 1978.

 

The need to get a permit to do it yourself is a hassle. Or you may have to
pay $900 to get a licensed electrician to do a simple job for you (it's hard
to get contractors in Seattle area due to the heated housing market).

Jerry

 

You had access to cut main feed to replace it?

 

I haven't installed it yet, but technically it's a subpanel because the
main breaker is in the garage back-to-back with the meter, so I can kill
the power there. The existing subpanel that I will replace is in the
basement.

Perce

 

You can usually pull the meter. But thats dicey if the wires from the
meter to the panel have to be replaced.

Bud--