Old fuse box in kitchen

8 years ago

We have what used to be a use box in our kitchen. The fuse box has been re-wired and moved outside and the contractor said he could not dry wall over it. Help?

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Comments (8)

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BeverlyFLADeziner
8 years ago
Cover it with artwork, a bulletin board, chalk board or message board.
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Annie Deighnaugh
8 years ago
I don't understand...is there still power to the thing or is it completely dead? If it's completely dead, remove it and then sheetrock over it. If it still has power, then it can't be enclosed.
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i have one that is very long and narrow in my laundry room, and i'm still working on the right thing for it i have a picture but it isn't big enough one thing to remember..they are metal..so you can hang anything on them with magnets..so if you make something or buy something that will fit..magnets make it a quick removal for getting to it.. a mirror or some art might be too heavy though so you would want to place a hook above the fuse box for those. there are a lot lot lot of those narrow longish mirrors out there in mirror land, they would be beautiful in a dining room..esp if there is room to put a plant and table or something in front to make a beautiful double viewed arrangement
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Properly-sized fuses are the best overcurrent protection from the perspective of safety , so your setup is not necessarily unsafe. But your post reveals your inexperience. A good electrician is needed at your site. Fuses are not the most convenient overcurrent protection. I tried to find a good video for your situation on YouTube but did not find such.
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The wire connecting the two was cut There are three wires. Black(hot) and two what I'll call "white" One wire was cut and now there are 3 wires that you have to connect together?!? In my mind, if a wire is cut then there'd only be two ends that need to be connected together. Plus, if the wire was just cut then the odds are that there isn't enough slack to pull both ends into a junction box and connect them. It may be better to replace the whole run. I think your description needs to be better if anyone is going to start attempting to help you figure out what to do. But as Vith said, you may be over your head and it may be time to hire an electrician.
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Comments (11)
Long distance diagnosis is impossible, especially without photos, but I'll cite a similar experience I'm familiar with. It happened about 50 years ago. This was a plug (Edison base) fuse making a distinct humming and buzzing noise for weeks or months. Maybe the fuse was a little loose, or maybe the wire connection to the fuseholder's terminal wasn't solid.. in any case, the contact was poor somewhere. The connection was actually arcing. This eroded the contacts further, making things worse. Eventually the intense heat that resulted actually melted the fuseholder. Fortunately, the arcing and molten metal were contained by the fusebox, a large, ancient, very solid closed-front box. If they'd reached the cardboard boxes stored nearby, the house would have probably gone up in flames. In your case, there's a good chance that the entire panel will need to be replaced. Unless you're thoroughly experienced with electrical work, including installing main panels, don't try to fix this yourself. And for goodness sake, quit jiggling that fuse! Open the main switch to shut off all power in the house. In an old fusebox, that could be a lever switch, or it may require opening the door, pulling out a cartridge fuse holder marked MAIN, and reinserting it upside down, so that the word OFF is right side up. If you can't figure out how to open the main, call the power company. They'll know what to do, and can even pull the meter if necessary. Then use only battery powered lights and appliances until you can get this checked out by a licensed pro.
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sheesh
8 years ago
Ours was removed when we redid our power 25 years ago. You'd never know it had been there.
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emmarene9
8 years ago
Jenna, I think this should be asked in the Old House Forum. The talk about things like this
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User
8 years ago
If there is no live wire coming into the box, it can be removed and drywall end over as Annie suggested. A few years ago we upgraded our electrical service from 200 to 400 amps and there was some discussion about moving the panel, which was located in the laundry room. We decided to leave it in place and just put the second one next to it, but if we had moved it they would have taken out the box so the wall could be repaired.

Perhaps there is still a live connection to your old box? I would ask the electrician this first. If he doesn't know or give a definitive answer you can have your electric utility send out someone to check. They would have had to inspect the work before the connection was changed.
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User
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
The old fuse box remains in our 1940s breakfast area. You can just glimpse it in this photo on the far wall - the white "thing" up high on the wall behind the chandelier. The inner workings are all still intact, but it now serves no actual purpose as we have a new fuse box elsewhere. As it has a wooden door, I just painted it to match the rest of the trim and left it and I don't even notice it now. Yours may be a metal door, though, and I know I wouldn't find that as "charming." Can you possibly drywall over it or hang something to disguise it, as has been suggested?
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dedtired
8 years ago
Mine is inside a cupboard. I'd post a picture but it is a mess in there. Mine is the circuit breakers for the house.
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User
8 years ago
It depends on how they rewired.

Often when you do an upgrade where there is a fuse box, new circuits are run to the new breaker box and AND the old circuits are passed through the old fuse box (with a HUGE fuse) to breakers in the new box.

If they did that, you can't drywall over the box.
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Old fuse box in kitchen

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BeverlyFLADeziner

Annie Deighnaugh

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