Vent: A firefighter in Charlotte told me 'we see a lot of melted breakers that were the right size'

He said they keep finding 15-amp breakers on #14 wire that still overheated at the connection. Has anyone else started checking terminal torque on every device after hearing something like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

willow_ellis92mo ago

Been checking torque on every outlet and switch for years now. A loose connection under a screw terminal will absolutely cook a wire no matter what the breaker size is. Get a decent torque screwdriver and follow the spec printed on the device. It's cheap insurance against a call back or worse.

tessa_kelly1mo ago

What torque driver did you end up with? I grabbed a cheap one years back and it was junk, but my current one has held up through a ton of outlets. @the_dakota is right about the strip length too, that's another easy place to mess up the connection.

the_dakota2mo ago

What brand torque driver you using? @willow_ellis9 is right, that spec is there for a reason. Seen too many melted wires from a lazy strip and screw.