Need to reset a Cutler-Hammer type FH 360060a breaker?

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WorthFlorida

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Does anyone know how to reset this breaker. The red button shows "trip" with an arrow to turn it CC wise. It will not move at all, the trip lever is in the middle position and very hard to move it at all. There is some kind of interlock.
This is at my church and I have a second one also needed to be reset. This AC unit had no power and the breaker was not tripped. So tried to do an off/on cycle and now I'm stuck. We called an electrical supplier and the master electrician there never have seen one of these. A search will bring up several manufactures such as Thomas & Betts. I cannot find any instructuions or videos


eaton breaker.jpeg
 
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wwhitney

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My experience is limited, but I gather the red "trip" button is to cause the breaker to trip when the switch is in the "on" position. That exercises the trip mechanism more than just turning it on and off does. So not directly relevant to resetting the breaker.

If the handle is in the middle position, then you need to push it to the "off" position before bringing it back to the "on" position. If it's resisting that, then if you are feeling not unlucky, you could try the action of one of the adjoining breakers to see how it is supposed to work.

If the pictured breaker is not moving as easily as the typical breaker in the panel, that would suggest a problem with the breaker. The red trip button looks a bit munged, maybe that test trip mechanism could be jammed and preventing the breaker from being reset normally?

Cheers, Wayne
 

WorthFlorida

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My experience is limited, but I gather the red "trip" button is to cause the breaker to trip when the switch is in the "on" position. That exercises the trip mechanism more than just turning it on and off does. So not directly relevant to resetting the breaker.

If the handle is in the middle position, then you need to push it to the "off" position before bringing it back to the "on" position. If it's resisting that, then if you are feeling not unlucky, you could try the action of one of the adjoining breakers to see how it is supposed to work.

If the pictured breaker is not moving as easily as the typical breaker in the panel, that would suggest a problem with the breaker. The red trip button looks a bit munged, maybe that test trip mechanism could be jammed and preventing the breaker from being reset normally?

Cheers, Wayne
It is why I have two tripped breakers, I thought I would try a second one to be sure. The little damage is from the screw driver trying to turn it. It is not possible to fully operate the trip lever. There is a lot of resistance and pushing it harder feels like I might damage it.

One AC unit was down with a bad fan start cap but manually rotating the fan to get it running seemed to be very noisy, compressor wise. So we tried to turn on the exact unit next it to compare the noise level and that did not work. There was no voltage at the the cutoff switch. The church side has nine AC units so having two down isn't too bad. A few weeks ago two 15 ton units were replaced. "We" is the maintenance guy at the church.
 

WorthFlorida

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Can you push the toggle down?
I tried about everything. we tried placing pressure on the trip lever and then turned the screw. Nothing budged. This is an outdoor electrical panel with about eight other identical breakers. I don't want to touch those for they are all for the AC compressors. These are three phase breakers but the two units are 240v or 207v, 5 ton or less. The 15 ton units are three phase. Some of these units have a fuse buss cutout. 60 amp is not needed for 5 ton units. Not sure what the Buss Fuses are rated at.

The other breaker I cracked and broke off half of the trip button. It did not take much to do it. I called a friend from my last home who is a licensed electrician but he hasn't returned my call. It's been about three years since I last talked to him.
 

WorthFlorida

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There is another type frame breaker in the panel but of a newer version. The newer one has a push button to test trip the breaker. I believe the round red button is just to do that. I'm starting to believe these breakers are bad since they are exposed to outside temperature and humidity swings. These panels are around thirty years old.


Everywhere these are in the $300-$500 range for used.

Screen Shot 2022-11-28 at 6.53.21 PM.jpg
 
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WorthFlorida

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Resolved, I was able to reset the breaker. It took a good amount of force to push it to off. I heard a very low click noise, then another click when switching it to ON. Problem was the buss fuses at the cutout knife switch were blown.
 

WorthFlorida

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Just an update. The next day the two breakers easily reset. They apparently were very hot and needed to cool down. The final problem was two AC compressor motors had shorted out and each were in a separate unit. They were right next to one another and both were replacements installed a few years earlier. They also blew 60 amp buss fuses at the cutout switch. One was 7 ton and the other a 5 ton units.
 
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