Be sure to turn the breaker fully off first. Then attempt to turn it On.
I am not a fan of ITE and their successor Siemens. As far as I know, the present-day QP Siemens breakers will substitute for the EQP. Won't cost you much to find out empirically.
Used EQ breakers are to be found onEbay .
Some say that the Cutler-Hammer BR breakers fit your panel better than the present-day Siemens. C-H is not UL Listed for your panel-- but I would not hesitate if it was mine.
I have not worked on one of those panels, as best I can remember.

This post was edited by bus_driver on Sat, Sep 14, 13 at 12:27

Thanks, I am pretty sure it is FUBAR. The handle just does not feel right throwing it in either direction.

What is the difference between EQ-P and EQ-[anything else]?

ionized-
You're sure that you pushed it hard to the off position?

I had one of those crappy Siemens panels when I moved in. It wouldn't surprise me if the breaker failed. I had one fail in more a more bizarre way. It started flickering the lights and when I touched it, it was hot. I swapped it with a spare one and the problem went away.

New breakers are very dear in price as they're not that common around here. I gave all mine away to the neighbors including a couple of 60 amp ones to those putting in hot tubs after I replaced my panel with a square d.

Yup, I am positive it was bad. It was all wiggley and no click in either direction. The other half of a half-width breaker pair preceeded it witth different symptoms. I looked it over, and then found a full-width 20 A in the gargage. I also looked at what an electrician put in recently for my mini-splits. I am good to go at this point.

The panel is weird. Initially, it looks like a simple main lug 3Ph panel, but the top 6 spaces on both sides are a separate bus. The only way to power both busses is to run wire between them. This panel is powered via three 100 A breakers in line one one side of the buss bars. Then a set of 50 A breakers jumps to the main lugs to power the top part.

The other panel right next to it is also ITE. It looks like it was designed for high leg delta service. It is split bus and looks like several single phase Edison service split box breaker and fuse panels I have seen -- 6 handles up and one powers the lower buss. Here, 4 handles cut off 4, 120/ 240 circuits one of which is a large group (20) of 120/240 in a lower section. Back up top, with the 120/240 slots that are used for the cooktop and oven, there are also two slots for 3 Ph.

Don't worry, I paind attention to hook to the same buss that was in use before and then double checked to be sure it was not the high leg.

I haven't been in this forum for the last year or two...

ionized was a regular when I was here before.

Do we really have a regular who doesn't know where to buy a circuit breaker?

Not poking fun - just wondering if my memory is deceiving me somehow.

Yup, same guy, but I have never removed or replaced a breaker before. It seems like the hardest part is finding out what breakers will go in obsolete panels. I guess that an electrical parts house could help me, but they are not open when I am not at work.

So the previous post offering interchange information was just a waste of (my) time?

Not at all. I think that I will try to pick up 15 and 20A spares. I'll be taking a look at the CH-Siemens comparison.

Thanks