So I have been doing lots of searching/digging and I am not able to find a similar sized 80 amp auto reset breaker like the 50 amp that is in place. Those style auto reset breakers come in many sizes but 50 amp is the biggest. All the 80 amp breakers I have found are physically very different. They look like this:
And the one being replaced looks like this:
So if I want to use the 80 amp I would have to relocate the breaker from the current bus bar as it will not fit. I would assume that is very doable but it would also entail running the wires differently. As a result I decided to just buy a new 50 amp for $10 and swap it out to see if I can have 4 more years of trouble free operation with a replacement.
I am hoping the current 50 amp might have gone bad and resets easily at lower amperage than it should. This might be a long shot but I figure a good gamble of $10 and maybe an hour max of my time to swap out. If it works then I am in great shape. If it doesn’t then I can decide if I need to find a more highly skilled person than me to swap to 80 amps.
By the way, if someone can point me to an 80 amp that is the same physical size as the current 50 amp I would certainly go that route but I can’t even find one on the internet let alone at a local auto parts store.