Replacing a circuit on the electrical panel

[mainesail]

Tony,
Not sure if your breakers are identical to mine, if they are why not just unscrew it from the jumper bar and remove the screws from the front of the breaker. 

Because the jumper bar almost always needs to be removed in order to free the breaker otherwise it holds it captive and you risk cracking something trying to force it out. It is pretty rare that the breaker can be removed without removing the busbar. If the screws are long enough you can just loosen all the busbar screws and sneak the breaker out once the busbar is loose. Course 10 seconds with a screw driver to gently bend the tab on the breaker enough to get a long handle Phillips in there is much quicker & easier..

The breaker load screws on this re-wired Ericson panel have been angled (bent) so that in the future work can be completed on the panel. A long handle Phillips can easily get to them. You can bend them much further than this and they are plenty robust to handle it.

[Jim Hardesty]

A plastic shield does sound like a good idea.  It's easy to start working on the DC side at the dock and have the AC side live and not give it the proper respect.  Another thing to put on the to-do list.
Jim

[Noah]

An essential safety upgrade for all, in my book. I have totally rewired replaced panel, but all old panel owners should consider at least jerry rigging a Tupperware cover or some such thing...