Beware of old circuit breakers - They may be damaged and will not open on a short

[gtxragtop]

I just bought a 1996 GT40 Ski Nautique that is in very nice condition. I noticed that the circuit breaker buttons in the engine compartment did not move when pushed or pulled. So I decided to replace the 60A first. Installed the new one and removed the old one. I decided to test it. I shorted it on a auto battery to see if it would open. It did not open and continued to generate quite large sparks as I tried several times to get it to open. Needless to say, I just ordered a 15A and a 12.5A breaker to replace the other 2 that also do not move.

If you get a short, the breakers will not open and wires will fry possibly resulting in a fire worst case or a damaged wiring harness best case.

[gtxragtop]

I'll add that the button does not move much. Perhaps 1/16-1/8" at the most. I pulled the old unit apart to determine why it failed. Rather than bore you with the details, suffice to say it was due to corrosion.