Amperage?

Avguygeorge, I need to question you on one point you made. You state that 15 and 20 amp service wire is the same. It is my understanding that most states electrical code require minimum 14 AWG for 15 amp services, and minimum 12 AWG for 20 amp services. Am I wrong in my understanding?

Massvm,

No, you're not wrong.

DeKay,in older electrical panels the amperage designation on the circuit breaker handle, which is usually highlighted with white or red paint,can partially wear off. It would be easy to mistake 150 amp for a 15 amp.If it is a 15 amp C/B then it is probably faulty, as under normal household operating conditions it would not be large enough to supply the branch circuits throughout the house without constantly tripping.In general,the max. C/B rating is determined by the ampacity of the wire which takes into consideration conductor size, type of insulation and ambient temperature.But if it is 150 amp the wire size should be much larger than the wires attached to the 15 and 20 amp branch C/B's.In older panels anything is possible.A lot of changes could have been performed by owner, tennants,handymen etc.I would have a licenced electrician check it out.
A 15 amp recepticle is rated for both a 15 and 20 amp circuit, so you can install it on #14 or #12 AWG.A 20 amp rated recepticle can only be installed on a 20 amp circuit with #12 AWG or #10 if rated for #10 AWG. Hope this helps.

Hi Everybody (as Dr. Nick says). I just checked the main breaker (stamped 15 amps) and it is not even wired into the system. The electrician just used the single line breaker switches that are marked 20 amps (this is a relief). The only thing to look into is that I do not beleive that the wiring is 12 gage (perhaps 14 gage) as some of the wall outlets are the type that accept the wire into a hole without screws (just push it into the hole and it locks). I was under the impression that these type of outlets were not designed to accept 12 gage wire (just smaller gages) but may be wrong on this. Anyway, I am not going to worry about it too much but will make certain that the box is up/downgraded to 15 amp breakers if it does not meet code. Sorry for the false alarm on the main breaker, but I do apprecieate all of the quick input. My wife lost everything, including pets, in an apartment fire in NYC years ago, which has influenced me anough to go through our electrical system piece by piece after discovering a cracked and water damaged wall outlet (which I would have never discovered had I not been involved in this hobby). I have just used the cheap Levitron Pro models as replacements so far (as needed), but will get something "nice" (maybe the Seymore & Pass model that Bob Crump likes) for the Hi-fi gear. I think that it's under $10.00. I will also follow the advise given and spec the PC rating to the amps themselves with the manufacturer's. If I am lucky in the process (depending on the wiring configuration) I may be able to get one "clean" line for the stero and probably use it for the digital stuff. Right now of the two lines available, one had the Fridge and the other the computer and it's external power supply. I opted for the computer line and just shut it down when I want to do some late night listening in the near field. I have a third "stray" line in the vicinity that just runs two overhead lights from what I can figure, but need to figure out where it travels throughout the walls. If I can pick it up before it travels through all of the light switches, it might make an improvement in the juice.

dekay, glad your wiring concerns have been dealt with. getting back to your original query and combining my first post with the second post of avguygeorge: some amps, like my big-box rowland, require 20 ampere pc's, since the female input socket on the amp is configured with 2 (bottom) vertical prongs and 1 (top) horizontal prong. the remaider of my current (no pun intended) electronics have the usual 3 vertical prong sockets that accept 15 amp pc's. BTW, fim sells all their pc's in 15 or 20 ampere configurations; naturally, the 20 amp models are significantly pricier.