I removed 2 circuit breakers, ok to have blank area in svc panel?

I found two circuit breakers corresponding to circuits where the wire was not connected to anything at the other end so I removed the wire and circuit breakers

now I have a couple blank spaces in the service panel and I plan to leave it that way

any reason I shouldn't? (aside from asthetics)

-MC

 

Yes, it does not meet code to leave the panel open. You should either purchase blank covers to install, or simply put the breakers back in and leave them turned off.

 

couldn't be that expensive

-MC

 

If it was me, I'd just put the breakers back in. You already have the breakers, you have to store the breakers somewhere, and if you store them in the panel you'll always be able to find them. But if you want to buy the covers, they are called "filler plates" and Home Depot gets a couple bucks for them.

 

Now that we've settled that, I have a different, raleted, concern.

You say that the wire "was not connected to anything. " Exactly what do you mean? Where did the wire terminate? In a box with a blank cover on it? Dangling in the basement somewhere? Loose in the attic/crawlspace?

Technically the wire should have gone somewhere and been properly terminated. If the wire is properly terminated in a box then it is safe. If the wire is improperly terminated then it is dangerous. I would be concerned about what else might be wrong with the electrical system that is also dangerous.

Can you provide details on these wires. Where do they go? Can you tell why they were abandoned and/or bever used?

Don't get me worng, it may be all okay, but it may not be. In my own house a wire was run upstairs. The upstairs was not finished by the builder, so the wire was terminated in a metal box. However, by the time the first owner finished the upstairs, the wire was not useable, as it was old two wire with no ground (legal when installed, but no longer legal. He had to disconnect it from the fuse box and not use it.

 

to call the house (when purchased) a "fixerupper" would have been the understatement of the millenium.

The first two months were spent deciding whether to tear that p.o.s. down and build a new house, or renovate everything.

The electricity was the first thing we decided to have done because without it, contractors couldn't use their tools unless they were either battery operated or brought over a generator.

The experience with the electrician was so bad that (perhaps it was a blessing in disguise) I picked up a slew of books and learned to do all the other stuff myself (including repairing the electrician's shoddy work).

One of the first things I wanted to do was provide a clear cut mapping of the service panel. I wanted to know which breaker was tied to which receptacle/switch/light/large appliance/etc.

When I completed the mapping, I found there were 2 (2-pole 20 amp) breakers not tied to anything so I turned the breakers "OFF".
I remembered there was a window a/c unit that I drop-kicked out the window when I installed a central air/heating system so I figured that was one circuit but didn't know the other.

So I went into that Godforsaken crawl space and traced each wire from each of the 2-pole 20 amp breakers and the first one went up to the former window a/c unit area unterminated, so I just yanked it out.
The other one was just rolled up unterminated and sitting peacefully in the crawl space.

Both wires are now removed as are the circuit breakers and I plan on using either those "fillers" (assuming they're cheap enough) or just replacing the unused breakers,

hope my house isn't an electrical explosion waiting to happen

-MC
PS If you're in the DC area, I'd avoid "Ron's (Vanover) Electric" aka "Vol-Tech", may have changed names since