blowing the breaker...

G

Greggl4321

Active Member
So my room and the room next to mine are on the same circuit breaker. I've got the roomie next door constantly running ac/ his computer.

I've realized that my 1000wattish coffee maker will blow the circuit, albeit, not immediately.

I recently had a Frigidaire window air condition installed. Someone said that it will require atleast 515 watts at 115 volts -- and requiring 15 amps to run properly.

First question is where did the 15 amps come from?

Next question is what should I do? Aren't circuit breakers rated for 20amps?
Shouldn't there be more than enough power available?
Why doesn't it trip instantly?

I've heard its bad to use extension cords for long term use, why is this?

Is it possible the breaker itself is worn or does it sound like I'm drawing too much power?
 
RustyShacklefurd

RustyShacklefurd

Well-Known Member
Moat resi breakers are 15 amps youll have to look in your panel and see if its a 15 amp or a 20, and what is all on that circuit 15 amps isnt a whole lot if youre loading a grow room on it, you may want to install a couple dedicated lines for your setup to avoid neusance tripping
 
FennarioMike

FennarioMike

Well-Known Member
20A circuits require a bigger sized wire in the wall that what's most likely present in a residential 15A circuit. It's not a matter of just popping in a bigger breaker. Doing so would cause the wiring to heat up dangerously at junction points - outlets, switches...

Short of having electrical work done to upgrade the wiring, you only other option is to figure out if you have any other outlets available that are not on the same breaker, and run extension cords to them to split up the load.
 
G

Greggl4321

Active Member
Why did someone say that it will require atleast 515 watts at 115 volts -- and requiring 15 amps to run properly.

I don't see how they got 15 amps required
 
G

Greggl4321

Active Member
I'm confused about how many amps my ac uses, and consequentially my light 600w. (Someone stated the ac needs 15amps)

Yet watts overs volts doesn't equal 15 amps, as mentioned above
 
ipeeinpools

ipeeinpools

Well-Known Member
FennarioMike said:
20A circuits require a bigger sized wire in the wall that what's most likely present in a residential 15A circuit. It's not a matter of just popping in a bigger breaker. Doing so would cause the wiring to heat up dangerously at junction points - outlets, switches...

Short of having electrical work done to upgrade the wiring, you only other option is to figure out if you have any other outlets available that are not on the same breaker, and run extension cords to them to split up the load.
Click to expand...
This is so dead on its not even funny. Never just pop the break to upgrade it...
Greggl4321 said:
Why did someone say that it will require atleast 515 watts at 115 volts -- and requiring 15 amps to run properly.

I don't see how they got 15 amps required
Click to expand...
So it doesn't require 15 amps to run, he was probably saying that it would run just fine on a 15A breaker. but the thing about a 15A breaker is that you can't run 15 amps continuously on it. To do so would cause the wiring to become too hot and overload, causing the breaker to trip. A 15A can only continuously run like 10.2 amps. If your running 11 amps, it might take 2 or 3 hours for the circuit to overheat and trip, 13 amps might only an hour.

Your can find the amperage by looking up the AC unit, and same with your 600. my 1000W on 120V runs 8.3 amps, 4.1 on 240V
 
FennarioMike

FennarioMike

Well-Known Member
Ok... It gets a bit confusing but... In the US, all appliances and electrical devices are rated for 15A at a household voltage of 120V. It's pretty much standard electrical codes. Your house wiring is all sized and rated for 15A service - that's the MAX that the outlet will provide. A 20A outlet/plug has one of the tines sideways.

The way electricity flows is very alagous to water. Think of it like this...

- Amperage is current - as in electrical current, but imagine the current as a flow rate through a pipe. Not the AMOUNT of water, just how FAST it's moving through that pipe.
- Voltage is like the water itself - as in the AMOUNT of water as opposed to how fast it's moving. The more voltage is like more water available in the pipe.

So, they work together - the pipe is your wire, voltage is the amount of water and amperage is how fast it's moving.

Imagine your electrical device at the end of this pipe and it's pulling what it needs from that pipe. If you have enough voltage and a big enough pipe it can get all it needs. Imagine now reducing that pipe size by half and the device trying to pull that same load from it - you can imagine it having a hard time feeding it through that small pipe. Also, now your roomie also splits off that pipe, and he's pulling away available supply too.

You would need to increase the pipe (wire) size for a higher draw. OR - here's the other thing but you probably don't have this option... A whole lot of growers (I do this) have a 220V 50A feed and run their lights on 220V. A lot of LED's work in both. When you go from 120V to 220V, it cuts your current draw in half. Since there is more voltage available it doesn't need to pull as hard.

The wattage of a device is a measure of how much electricity it's going to need. I don't know the formula, but wattage is similar to amperage - add the wattage together of all the devices on that circuit and it eats up the available amperage. Like amperage, wattage is divided in half when you go to a higher voltage like 220. They might show 2 different wattage ratings for either voltage type. When they say it requires 15A - it just means a regular old household plug. It doesn't mean that it's going to consume the whole 15A - it's a Max rating. Your toaster will also be rated for 15A, and your vacuum, and coffee maker... Your electric stove is more like 240V/50A as is your electric dryer. I used an electric stove's AC supply and rigged it to my lighting controller. Now the whole system runs on that 240V 50A and it draws a whole lot less that if I tried to run it on 120V - I would just trip breakers...

It sounds like you're in a rental property, so short of getting some electrical upgrade work done, I think your only option is to run an extension cord from an outlet somewhere on a different breaker.
 
ipeeinpools

ipeeinpools

Well-Known Member
FennarioMike said:
Ok... It gets a bit confusing but... In the US, all appliances and electrical devices are rated for 15A at a household voltage of 120V. It's pretty much standard electrical codes. Your house wiring is all sized and rated for 15A service - that's the MAX that the outlet will provide. A 20A outlet/plug has one of the tines sideways.

The way electricity flows is very alagous to water. Think of it like this...

- Amperage is current - as in electrical current, but imagine the current as a flow rate through a pipe. Not the AMOUNT of water, just how FAST it's moving through that pipe.
- Voltage is like the water itself - as in the AMOUNT of water as opposed to how fast it's moving. The more voltage is like more water available in the pipe.

So, they work together - the pipe is your wire, voltage is the amount of water and amperage is how fast it's moving.

Imagine your electrical device at the end of this pipe and it's pulling what it needs from that pipe. If you have enough voltage and a big enough pipe it can get all it needs. Imagine now reducing that pipe size by half and the device trying to pull that same load from it - you can imagine it having a hard time feeding it through that small pipe. Also, now your roomie also splits off that pipe, and he's pulling away available supply too.

You would need to increase the pipe (wire) size for a higher draw. OR - here's the other thing but you probably don't have this option... A whole lot of growers (I do this) have a 220V 50A feed and run their lights on 220V. A lot of LED's work in both. When you go from 120V to 220V, it cuts your current draw in half. Since there is more voltage available it doesn't need to pull as hard.

The wattage of a device is a measure of how much electricity it's going to need. I don't know the formula, but wattage is similar to amperage - add the wattage together of all the devices on that circuit and it eats up the available amperage. Like amperage, wattage is divided in half when you go to a higher voltage like 220. They might show 2 different wattage ratings for either voltage type. When they say it requires 15A - it just means a regular old household plug. It doesn't mean that it's going to consume the whole 15A - it's a Max rating. Your toaster will also be rated for 15A, and your vacuum, and coffee maker... Your electric stove is more like 240V/50A as is your electric dryer. I used an electric stove's AC supply and rigged it to my lighting controller. Now the whole system runs on that 240V 50A and it draws a whole lot less that if I tried to run it on 120V - I would just trip breakers...

It sounds like you're in a rental property, so short of getting some electrical upgrade work done, I think your only option is to run an extension cord from an outlet somewhere on a different breaker.
Click to expand...
Beautifully put. I had an electrician swap out my 120 for 240, was just a cosmetic fix....cept now my basement has no light switch....lol.
 
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