While rooting around in my attic I realized/remembered I had this breaker box up there that: 1) has an uknown purpose; and 2) breaker is in “off” position, and probably has been for an indefinite, but long, amount of time…i’ve never flipped it in either direction (as far as I can remember)
Of note is that it has pretty large gauge cables leading in and out…I suspect directly in from my Main box from outside, or from the main circuit breaker panel (in my garage)?
Not a breaker, but a switch. Probably for a 220V motor load like a pool, sump, or septic drain field pump. Might be for a resistive load like a furnace or water heater. It’s rated at 60 Amps or 10 HP.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it: Follow the wires and see where they go.
I’ll try. But, if it matters (?), water heater is natural gas, and I have no items like pool, sump, or septic system. Furnace is up there in attic and I’ll see if it leads there over that way, but… I think switch is not in the on position!?
I assumed a breaker was involved/inside as it mentions “60 Amp max”. A faulty assumption, I guess?
Possible that the house ever had an electric water heater?
I doubt it’s for a furnace, at least not a gas furnace. They typically draw less than 1000 Watts for the blower motor.
Yeah electric furnace or heat pump is what I was thinking.
Nope…original was gas and I replaced it (with some help) with another gas unit.
Also, furnace is natural gas as well.
BUT…since switch has been in “off” position, and based on what you guys have mentioned, I suspect it may be there for future, non-gas-powered appliance options. I’ll still try and figure out where output leads to, though.
Squirrel frying machine?
I doubt this. It may have been installed to meet a requirement that fell through, but this and the associated wire are not cheap. If it was done on pure spec, I’d expect it to be run and taped off on both ends. And tagged.
This is the kind of mystery that merits a little research. It can lead to information that is useful immediately, or eventually present an answer to a future issue.
It’s a bit f your house’s hidden history, and you know what they say about history - those who ignore it are condemned to repeat it.
I just took a better look, but no luck…it is clear(ish) where the cable comes over and up from floor right about either the main circuit box location or from outside (although I doubt the main power come into this box then down to main panel, which has a main cutoff switch inside of it at top, anyway). But once it comes out it disappears into/underneath attic decking, never to be seen again.
I suppose it could be the run to the oven, which is electric and definitely a 220v line. But I still can’t account for how the switch can be in the “off” position and therefore this circuit actually doing anything? I am now curious/wondering if there’s any electricity running though it at all. I have a Klein contactless voltage detector around here somwhere. Somewhere…
I think that we’re all agreed that if the switch is off, it isn’t attached to anything that’s running. I’d want one of those if I had a pottery kiln. 60 Amps is a bit more than normal, but a dryer only pulls 30 amps, so it’s unlikely that that was the intended function.
That said, Ceramics is buying a bigger kiln, and I think it takes a 60 amp breaker, so we’re going to do some rewiring. We’ve run the smaller kilns with 50 amp breakers.
It sure seems dead unless it’s wired to bypass the switch. What rooms are near the wall this is over?
Also, that wire doesn’t look big enough for 60A, that’s just the max rating of the switch.
I’d say turn it on and trace it that way, but as long as it’s been disconnected there is some risk that changes have been made to far end assuming it’s permanently dead.
It’s not really “traceable” in any meaningful way…right? Or is it…
As to cable size, by eyeballing it I’d say it is same size/gauge as the two hots that run into my house. If I open it up, flip the switch on, is it safe to put my tongue on it use a multimeter/probes to see if it is actually “hot”, i.e. really wired to main service, and measure amp & voltage? Seems like I should be able to without blowing something up.
Beside bing up in middle of nowhere (in attic), having serious gauge leads in and out, not having any label or identification as to purpose/use, and switch being “off”, the last thing that gets me is that on my main panel, there are only four 220V breakers and all have a designated use: oven, dryer, A/C, and a 220v outlet in my garage.
Remember that 240V and 60A are maximum ratings. Presuming it is double pole, it can still be used single pole. This is also labeled that it does not provide over current protection.
Recent code says that HVAC systems shall have a disconnect within reach of the unit. Often this is provided in the form of a light switch, but a box like this would be a bit more clear that it is a disconnect. It could also be for something like an automatic attic fan. So if it isn’t one of the obvious ones, and it isn’t easily traceable, it could honestly have been something that makes no sense to anyone who wasn’t involved originally.
Just flip the breaker and see what stops working?
It’s already off. Might see what arcs, sparks, or catches fire…
I take it you are not the original owner? I personally would not switch it on without knowing where it goes. There are tools to determine whether a circuit is live should you decide to try…
Maybe a previous owner was considering switching to an electric tankless water heater and reconsidered?
Somebody with a crystal ball wanted to be ready to install an EV charger?
My vote is steam shower.
In my house there was a random unconnected 10-gauge wire running from my panel through my attic. Extremely convenient when I swapped from a gas to an electric dryer.
You don’t need to turn it on to open it up and probe the inputs to see if they’ve got juice. I’ve got a harbor freight cable tracer if you wanna borrow it and try to find where it goes.
Another possibility - a construction site power expedience that was not removed upon completion.
Clark Griswold’s Christmas light display? Or, more likely, the Multicam! 
Correct, although I bought from orig owner when house was ~5 years old, so I’ve owned it the major bulk of its existence.
This could easily make sense as this was one of the model homes for the subdivision, e.g. garage was used for showroom.
Something like this, i.e. “for future considerations”, is most reasonable guess at this point, IMO, although I still am not sure if/where it is hooked into main panel as all circuits and breaker positions are spoken for.
As Kevin B. points out, this particular whodunit can probably only be solved by asking original contractors involved, or by someone with more time, energy, expertise, and motivation than I have at this point.
