How do you arrive at that suspicion with so little evidence to support anything other than a busted breaker... There looked to be *ZERO* evidence of overloading on that branch circuit as the wiring looked normal and there was no evidence of scorched connections or melted insulation on the branch wires for that circuit... The connections to the breaker looked normal and not distorted or melted... You really do need an *overload* condition to burn the breaker at the busbar contact position...
The OP state the breaker appered to be loose in the panel. Thebreaker has apparently not been supplying power to the stove for some time, but at one point in the past it was. The bus bar where the breaker connects was a weak point in some of those (early) breaker panels, burnrd or eroded buss bars were not an uncommon occurrene. They would not necessarily show any overheating where the wires connect to the breaker, or anywhere else on the wiring, and no "overload" would be required for the problem to occur. He also mentions "salt air corrosion" - where IS this panel located (both geographically and in the building)?
Sometimes they can be cleaned up well enough to work - particularly for a 15 amp circuit. For a 50 amp, GENERALLY if they are bad enough to cause a problem, the problem is pretty much permanent.
MIGHT be able to clean it up enough to make it work for a few more years, might not - and it's even possible I'm wrong and there is no damage to the buss bar. I doubt it, but I've been wrong before - particualrly on things I have not been able to look at close up and actually "feel".
Umm... Dude, the OP is clearly not a technical person who knows what they are doing... The switch handle can be "loose and floppy" inside the panel while the breaker housing is properly affixed in place...
This is not an "early panel" it is a 60's or 70's vintage Westinghouse Commercial panel... By the looks of it with bolt on breakers but I have been surprised by the outward appearance of panels before so without seeing that inner cover plate removed I won't even offer any "opinion" on that issue...
The OP is clueless as far as "salt air corrosion" as there was again *ZERO* evidence of that happening at all and ANY exposed live connections would have a build up on them if there was moist salty air present...
The OP borders on troll-ish-ness and was clearly trespassing inside the panel which is not owned by him and for which he does not pay for individually metered electric service from (by his own admission and the number of circuits inside of it) so he has no legitimate business opening it up and tinkering with it at all...
So confine your guesses to plausible ones found in actual reality... An overload or short condition which was enough to burn or scorch the busbar would definitely leave a visible trace of melty wire insulation behind on the circuit conductors...
Yeah, you have to look at the pictures the usenet idiots post and try to translate their useless n-- "breaker flops loosely back and forth"
translation: the switch handle on the breaker flops loosely back and forth
-- "not easily turned off due to being a multi family unit panel"
translation: I am not aware that I shouldn't be tampering with equipment that is not owned by me
-- "It looks like breakers could only come out to the side where the wires attach. I can just barely see a little quarter inch hex nut hidden there; maybe getting a socket wrench on that will set it free?"
translation: I haven't the first clue about how to repair things inside of an electrical panel, but rather than call the people with the proper authority to effect qualified and safe repairs i will continue to google the issue and ask for assistance on Usenet newsgroups
-- "Maybe I will shoot wd40 into it first, because why would an unused circuit breaker fail"
translation: Further defining just how unqualified I am to even think of attempting this repair, I will suggest doing something totally unsafe which could result in an electrical fire
-- "Thanks... want to avoid another expensive service visit like the plumber who charged me 5X what was justified and stole some repair material from me."
translation: I have a past history of having unauthorized repairs done to the unit where i am living -- the last bastard charged me more than I thought it should cost (because it has been so long since I owned my own house to know what these things really cost) and took away some of my toys... Waaaaa
-- "I guess underused electrical stuff tends to corrode faster. Darn it about WD - maybe duct taping the switch in the on position?"
translation: I thought WD-40 and duct tape could fix anything you have just shattered my fragile view of the world...
-- "I just don't get why such a thing fails from just sitting there for decades, only powering a clock. I just flipped it once and it went floppy."
translation: I didn't know well enough to leave it alone and when I went into the panel to try and solve a problem, *I* actually *broke* it myself by fiddling with it
Ah, the truth finally comes to light... The OP should have clearly reported the problem to the landlord *before* touching anything and let the landlord's agents/employees kill the thing, they would have effected the needed repairs safely...
It comes to question why on earth would someone not use their stove for "decades" and suddenly need it now ? The clock must have stopped working is my guess...
Well, I replaced a '60s industrial panel at the car dealeship I was service manager at for 10 years because the breakers for the lot lighting were tripping randomly and/or not turning on, and when I pulled the breakers to check them, the bus bars were badly burned, to the point the panel was not repairable or useable as it was. There was NO sign of overheating or overloading on the wires. I replaced the panel and ALL the breakers with a new Square D panel.
I have seen that happen too, in a panel for site lighting -- the only damage to the panel was with the busbar, but out in the light poles there were all sorts of melted connections -- water got into several of the poles and the oversized wire size for the length of the run everything was fine in the panel except the busbar...
But with arced and fried busbar in a panel you *WILL* find some damage somewhere in the wiring fed from the destroyed slot in the panel...
Did you have some type of switch/contactor/time clock controlling those lights or where you using the circuit breakers as switches to control the lighting ?
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