First off I know this is not the best idea.
To start my 200 Amp Main has suffered a partial failure and as it is old (60s) and unusual it will be very hard or impossible to replace it. Since the main breaker has failed only half of my breakers are working as only one of the hot lines from it is supplying power to the breaker box and so basically every other breaker is working.
This means of course that any double pole breakers will not work.
I need to wire up my water heater (18.8 Amp) using two 110 breakers.
Can anyone explain to me how to do this for a quick fix as my real fix will require a complete new breaker box and so on.
Best Answer
You cannot get 220VAC from one leg in your panel. You must have two isolated 120VAC legs to do this. Using two single pole breakers on one leg will still only give you 120VAC.
Why can't you have the main breaker replaced? You should be able to buy a replacement breaker without replacing the whole panel. Also, have you tried manually setting the magnets in the main breaker? This is done by removing it and slamming it hard down on all axis. This will sometimes physically reset the magnets in their proper position within the breaker and restore normal operation. They can sometimes be jarred out of position when tripped. But since you have to remove the breaker to do this trick, you might as well replace it with a fresh new one.