is there an elecriction in the house to identify this Westinghouose Load Center

[Bruce Seidner]

I just picked this up at a yard sale and need to purchase the main breaker and a combination of single and double pole breakers for my wood shop. I can't find the manual for this box anywhere and was hopeful that you could identify this Westinhouse Load Center and from there I could figure out what breakers would fit it. I am using it as a sub panel from the house main panel for my garage workshop and am taking over a 4/2 romex that used to feed the homes central heat system. We switched to gas 20 years ago and so this looks to be a good candidate to power my workshop. But I need to find the manual for this to know the main breaker physical size and then will decide what the maximum amperage will need to be. It is a modest shop and 200 amps is likely overkill and I need to determine the 4/2 length and material. It is likely coper since the home was built in 1956. In any event I am not asking for advise on how to load the box so much as what breakers will fit the box.


Bruce

Bruce G. Seidner, Ph.D.
Clinical & Forensic Psychology
5401 Kingston Pike
Suite 400
Knoxville, TN 37919

Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Psychology
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

865-588-4232 office
865-588-4231 fax
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[Bruce Wrenn]

Before I would chunk a bunch of money into your Westinghouse panel, I would look at Lowes and see if they still have the panel from Siemans which includes a bunch of 20 amp breakers.

[Peter Kelly]

Westinghouse has been out of residential electrics for a while now so that's a pretty old panel. Cutler Hammer or Eaton breakers might fit it.

[Mike Henderson]

Take it to your local electrical supply house and ask them what they have to fit it and how much it will cost. You might do better buying something new.

Mike

[Buck Williams]

Westinghouse was purchased by / merged with Cutler Hammer or Eaton Corp. The attached photo is a little fuzzy, but it looks like it says to use a type BR breaker for branch circuits. Cutler Hammer still makes a type BR breaker, as far as I know that particular style is still the same as the old Westinghouse breaker.

[Matt Meiser]

I've got a Westinghouse panel that uses BR breakers in my house which was built in 1991. When we put in our generator I used a Siemens panel for the emergency panel. Its easy enough to find "standard" BR breakers locally--stuff like 15 and 20A 120V, or 20A 240V but anything odd I usually have to order online. And anything I order ends up being more expensive. I'd bet you are going to pay as much or more for a main breaker for that panel as you would a complete new Siemens panel.

I tried looking for a replacement front panel for mine because I don't like the way the knockout covers fit where we removed breakers, but couldn't find anything in Cutler Hammer's catalog.

[Rollie Meyers]

The Westinghouse electrical division was sold to Eaton & they folded it into their Cutler-Hammer subsidiary, Bryant used to be Westinghouse's residential / light commercial loadcenter line, they rebranded it as Westinghouse until a few years after they sold them off, so they have been branded as Bryant, Westinghouse, & Cutler-Hammer, The BR breakers are UL "Classified" for use in those panels in addition to Challenger. To cover your bases, make sure you have paperwork allowing those breakers to be used, there a many makes that "will fit" but very few that have been tested & classified to be used in a panel.

[Ron Natalie]

What Rollie said.
The Eaton/Cutler-Hammer Type BR is the current version of that panel line. Their type BR breakers are approved and you can find them pretty commonly( even the borgs have some supply).

[Bruce Seidner]

What Rollie said.
The Eaton/Cutler-Hammer Type BR is the current version of that panel line. Their type BR breakers are approved and you can find them pretty commonly( even the borgs have some supply).

I lugged this boat anchor into a shop and in fact the BR's fit great.

The problem is that the Main is no longer made. But that is not much of a problem because I am using this as a sub panel running off the old 4-2 that fired my electrical furnace.

So I picked up a 100amp Saftey switch that is non fused which will allow me to tinker with the panel without risk of electrocution and the wire terminates in my outdoor main 250amp main panel into a 100 amp circuit breaker. So even thougth I can't get a main circuit breaker for this dinosaur it is still a very beefy and ginourmous panel that will let me run all the lines I want to it. It is a small on guy shop so I don't think the limitaition of 100 will be significant. Than you all who took the trouble to answer my question.

[Rollie Meyers]

I lugged this boat anchor into a shop and in fact the BR's fit great.

The problem is that the Main is no longer made. But that is not much of a problem because I am using this as a sub panel running off the old 4-2 that fired my electrical furnace.

So I picked up a 100amp Saftey switch that is non fused which will allow me to tinker with the panel without risk of electrocution and the wire terminates in my outdoor main 250amp main panel into a 100 amp circuit breaker. So even thougth I can't get a main circuit breaker for this dinosaur it is still a very beefy and ginourmous panel that will let me run all the lines I want to it. It is a small on guy shop so I don't think the limitaition of 100 will be significant. Than you all who took the trouble to answer my question.

If your using 4/2 then it can only be used 2 ways, either as a 120 volts only sub panel or 240 volts only. Any other use is not code compliant.

[Bruce Seidner]

Thank you for the heads up.
If it is the gage of the wire than is there any other solution short of running a second wire from my main to a separate sub panel or would increasing the gage of the wire to this panel solve the code problem?\

Is it the gage of the wire or some other issue?

[Alan Schaffter]

Thank you for the heads up.
If it is the gage of the wire than is there any other solution short of running a second wire from my main to a separate sub panel or would increasing the gage of the wire to this panel solve the code problem?\

Is it the gage of the wire or some other issue?

Not sure, but I think Rollie means it needs to be 4/3 w/gnd so you have both a neutral and ground- 220V needs only two hot and a ground, while 120V needs hot, neutral, and a ground, so for both you need two hots, neutral and ground.

Also, 4/X Romex may not provide the ampacity you need- depending on the sheathing, a quick check indicates 4/X is rated for:

#4 (copper) 70 85 95 #4 (aluminum) 55 65 75

[Bruce Seidner]

Thank you all for watching my back. I have an electrtion coming over to give the facts. I like facts. But iam often bereft of them.

[Rollie Meyers]

A feed for a subpanel requires 4 wires, 2-ungrounded (hots), 1-grounded (neutral), & 1-grounding, for 120/240 volts single phase, at the main service the grounded & grounding conductors tie together, but once they leave there they are always seperate.