I'm not an electrician, so the best possible fix is to hire a professional electrician. That being said, I found this problem in the middle of an insulation/sheetrock project that has just about sunk us, and I can't possibly afford to hire an electrician. Our upstairs (where the children sleep) breaker box is fed by 10/3 wire that runs directly to the service connection in the top of our main breaker box downstairs. The 10/3 is actually in the same posts as the massive black service cables in the top of the box. It runs upstairs to a small breaker box where is is connected to a 100A "Main" breaker. My concern is that the 10G wire can't handle the potential current in normal use, much less in a dead-short situation. Running new wire would be very difficult, most likely requiring me to break brick because it runs between the original exterior and the new brick. What I'm hoping is that the 10/3 can actually handle the current that may be used upstairs with just 2 bedrooms and no bathrooms or major appliances, and that I can drop the line in my main breaker box down to a breaker instead of the service connections. It sounds safe to me, but again I'm not an electrician. My first concern is running from one breaker to another isn't something I have seen done before. Also, I don't know how to calculate the breaker size I would need for that. As simple as the sum of all the breakers used in the upstairs box? Probably not. Main Breaker box (the 10G in the top runs to the upstairs breaker box) [ATTACH]51973[/ATTACH] Upstairs Breaker Box (Note the 2 30A breakers aren't used even though they are on and have always been on. And yes that is a galvanized nut on top of the breakers. It was in there when I opened the box.) [ATTACH]51974[/ATTACH] Any help you guys can offer is appreciated. Thanks

I want to cut speed 50% for noise reduction on portable 3spd fan - typical Lasko inexpensive mass mkt Asian product. I want an in line 120v plug-in device, not a permanent l wall switch speed control. I've searched forums and found no direct answer. I'm told it is not safe to use "dimmer" controls, reostat etc. Is it true you must reduce 60cycle rate to reduce speed on a plug-in 120v device? What kind of motor am I dealing with? There is no info label on this fan. I bought used 2nd hand - works great if you don't mind living in general aviation ramp. I see fans advertised costing ten times as much with virtually the same noisy over-speed problem. Why this ridiculous buzzing minimum speed? Something to do with USA UL standards or what? What kind of speed control do I need? I realize the control will probably cost more than the fan. Will this device do it? [url=http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Bully-Motor-Fan-Controller/dp/B005644IS0]Amazon.com: Speed Bully Motor Fan Speed Controller: Home Improvement[/url] Thanks in advance - any advice will be helpful