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Okay the AC quit working and I never did find a throat breaker go out by the AC unit in the box on the wall is sizzling I follow the line all the way back to where it hooks up to the line that is running between the meter and the breaker box in the house is this okay why wouldn't somebody hook it up to a breaker inside the main breaker box and then going to turn it off there

Sidney
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    A sizzling box is probably arcing. POWER DOWN THAT CIRCUIT and call an electrician. You are likely to have a fire. – Stephen Daddona Jun 05 '21 at 04:59
  • I flipped my main breaker to the house and it still has power they hooked it up before it goes into the breaker box and after it comes out of the meter box from the power company why would somebody do this I'll add a picture if I can – Sidney Jun 05 '21 at 05:02
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    If it's too late at night to get an electrician, call the fire department and tell them you have a sizzling electrical box. – Stephen Daddona Jun 05 '21 at 05:06
  • @Sidney -- can you post photos of your electrical panel please? – ThreePhaseEel Jun 05 '21 at 13:31
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    If you can’t find a breaker, turning AC off at your thermostat should keep it from trying to draw power, but that is not a long term fix for this issue. – Tim B Jun 05 '21 at 16:41
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    Not sure why the down vote good questions asked reversed 1. – Ed Beal Jun 05 '21 at 22:11
  • Maybe an original AC unit had a circuit breaker in the unit, later the AC unit was replaced and for whatever reason a new breaker was not installed at the AC unit I can not say who would do this we would hope not a qualified electrician. A DIY'er with enough knowledge to make them dangerous - for sure. What is the Box on the wall that is sizzling - the main box, the meter box or something else ? You can add a breaker to your existing box and connect the AC there - but you will need to make sure you have proper service amps in that box. Or add a box between the meter and the AC. – Ken Jun 06 '21 at 13:03

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A local disconnect is required in code terms “ within sight” so you have a circuit breaker from the panel feeding the unit then the required disconnect or this is normal. Some feed from the meter to a fused disconnect, pull the disconnect.

Once you verify the power is off you may be able to fix it. The arcing noise is from a loose connection, some cases if the wires are not damaged it may be possible to tighten them and return the unit to service.

Why would someone do this? Because the existing electrical service may have been small and adding a 30, 40, 50 amp circuit was more than the panel could handle.

I find loose connections are occasionally the precursor to other problems like the starting capacitor in the outside unit becoming weak (close to failure) drawing higher amperage on startup. In some cases it might be best to have an hvac company check it out if they have an electrician because not all electricians know hvac systems.

Ed Beal
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