1950 Chrysler Town & Country Circuit Breakers

[Chip Boyd]

I'm replacing the entire wiring harness in my '50 Chrysler Town & Country.  I can't remember which of the two circuit breakers behind the dash is the 8 amp one (serving windshield wipers, backup lights, etc) and which is the 30 amp (serving headlights, tail lights, parking lights and interior lights).  I took a ton of pictures before starting the job, but somehow missed that one.   The two breakers are identical in size and terminal configuration and they have no markings except the upper one has "85" cast into the phenolic insulator between the two terminals and "SELF CLOSING" stamped in the side of the steel case.  The lower one is blank.

 

Can someone please have a look under their dash and tell me which one is which?  Thanks in advance.

 

All the Best, Chip

[kencombs]

I think the one marked ‘self closing’ is headlights as I know that circuit is self resetting. 

[DonaldSmith]

Wouldn't they both be self closing?  Wouldn't the larger one have the higher amperage? 

[Plymouthy Adams]

yes they both reset when cooled after tripping....jumper power to one side, put a 30 amp load on the other, the one that does not open up is the 30 amp load...the 8 amp should open real quick like.....

[Chip Boyd]

Thanks guys....  They are both self-resetting circuit breakers, they're both exactly the same size, with the same size terminals and the same configuration.  Plymouthy Adams

suggestion is the best one so far, and the way I'll do that is by assuming that one of them is the 30 amp, hook up all the wiring on that basis and if the headlights are flashing when I power it up, I'll know that I got it backwards.  The leads are long enough that I can easily switch between the two breakers.   Just using the headlights as the load is the easiest way to do it.

 

Meanwhile, if anybody knows which one is which, it might save me an hour or so if I could hook them up correctly the first time.

 

Again, thanks for your help.

 

All the Best, Chip

[Chip Boyd]

Problem solved!   It turns out that new breakers like these are available from Bussmann and sold on Amazon.  They're available in 10 amp and 30 amp which will do just fine.  I'll just replace the ones I can't differentiate.  New breakers are a good idea anyway.

 

All the Best, Chip