air conditioner flipping breaker
- Thread starter sunandsky
- Start date
sunandsky
Well-Known Member
That is all I have inside the apartment. on the side of the building there is a big closed panel that i do not have access to. It houses the electrical for the entire building I'm guessing. I live in Canada.....eh?
sunandsky
Well-Known Member
I don't use a humidifier, just a dehumifier. I think this one serves only my apartment, pretty sure. Electric stove yes, heat yes, dryer and washing machine yes, both electric. I've tested it several times. Today I had the a/c on for 25 minutes twice, and no breaker flip. I just brought temps down and then turned it off after 20 or so mins with no problems. That won't do for summer time though. I should just get a smaller a/c. the place is pretty small anyhow, i don't need an 1100 watt 9000btu a/c
kratos015
Well-Known Member
Thank you for posting that photo, really helps with things.
So that's your main breaker panel, your apartment is wired for a total of 125 amps spaced out between a handful of breakers rated at 15-20 amps. I can't see the reading for the green breakers, but I would guess 30 amps if it's for a dryer. You have a handful of options here.
1) Divide the light and the AC to two separate breakers so that you don't overload them. An extension cord will be needed, 14 gauge minimum. A normal extension cord is not safe, you'll need to spend good money on a 14 gauge or 12 gauge extension cord. Nice and safe. All you need to do is flip each breaker to determine which outlets go to which particular breakers. Make sure the light is on a separate breaker from the AC and you'll have this problem nipped.
2) Get a 30 amp light controller and a dryer/appliance plug in. This requires basic knowledge of electricity, which I can help with if you decide to go this route. But you'll have 30 amps to work with using this method, I recommend this for if/when you expand.
hope this helped
So that's your main breaker panel, your apartment is wired for a total of 125 amps spaced out between a handful of breakers rated at 15-20 amps. I can't see the reading for the green breakers, but I would guess 30 amps if it's for a dryer. You have a handful of options here.
1) Divide the light and the AC to two separate breakers so that you don't overload them. An extension cord will be needed, 14 gauge minimum. A normal extension cord is not safe, you'll need to spend good money on a 14 gauge or 12 gauge extension cord. Nice and safe. All you need to do is flip each breaker to determine which outlets go to which particular breakers. Make sure the light is on a separate breaker from the AC and you'll have this problem nipped.
2) Get a 30 amp light controller and a dryer/appliance plug in. This requires basic knowledge of electricity, which I can help with if you decide to go this route. But you'll have 30 amps to work with using this method, I recommend this for if/when you expand.
hope this helped
sunandsky
Well-Known Member
Ahh thanks very much man. Yeah I was going to flip the breakers and see whats what. Did that in my old place, seems like nobody ever writes any of it down on the little sheet that is supplied right on the damn thing. Why does it flip the main breaker though? At my old place my furnace always flipped the breaker...though that furnace had a separate breaker somehow because now that i think about it, when i had a little heater in my bathroom, that thing flipped the breaker to the whole house, it was plugged into the bathroom. The furnace, the stove and the washer/dryer would only flip their own switches. Man it's been a fix it couple of days. Truck u joints have been diagnosed, internet problems have been tested, this a/c breaker flip ordeal, changing mail boxes!..the list goes on man.
combatvet2009
Member
breakers can get old, worn out and still work under light load but "breaks" under heavy loads or hard starts from the compressor the more its tripped the weaker over time they become. by the looks of it that panel has been around awhile... I'm guessing you don't have a volt meter.. if you have a friend who is an electrician or DIY you can swap a main breaker for $15. But without being there testing stuff with a meter we are all pissing in the wind! there are too many different things that could play a roll in this.
Xcoregamerskillz
Well-Known Member
Without a picture of the main breaker you cannot be sure that's what his apartment can handle. Don't go flipping switches, get one of these : https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003LHJSY8/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1491352973&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=circuit+tracer
Also, you have free breaker spaces, you could hire someone to put in a couple fresh circuits or a sub panel.
natureboygrower
Well-Known Member
exactly.that looks like an old ass panel with possibly original breakers.im not familiar with that brand,but first thing i would do is swap out the breaker that feeds the outlet the ac is plugged into.that breaker could be fucked,not doing its job(tripping)possibly causing the main to trip.if its still tripping the main with the new ac breaker in,something is going on.
Lurrabq
Well-Known Member
Best thing to do is change out the panel. That's an old Federal Pacific panel. The law suits against the Stab-Lok breakers are what put them out of business.Elaborating on this would help. Kinda feel like that was a semi insulting comment, not sure though, never know these days, everyones got an inflated ego it seems
Okay, thanks for the knowledge first of all, second, i've taken pics, ill attach them. third, a basic understanding is what im currently achieving, thanks
I live in a single strip apartment building, 7 units, all small apartments. Older building. Electricity is included in the cost of rent so it's likely I could have 100A service idk. posted pics, looks like i've got 125.
To answer other questions: 1-my humidifier heats up the tent a lot, and i am waiting for ducting/filter in the mail. Haven't set up a venting system going out of the room yet. I'm also hesitant to vent that stinky air out the window and into the bible thumping nostrils in my jesus cult small town. In the summer I will also want to have an air conditioner. No way am I living another year without one. fuck no. So I might as well address this problem now. I don't want to have my lights on during the night. this makes no sense to me because I can't check on them that often and feeding/watering/inspecting all has a small window. Due to illness i am always home and I enjoy having lights on during the day.
combatvet2009
Member
I think your cheapest easiest fix would be replace the main breaker and go thru tighten every screw that holds a wire. when current travels thru wire it vibrates and over long periods of time they can become loose and cause excess power loss. I know if I was renting I wouldn't want to put anymore money into it than I had to. And you could do it in 15-20 min when lights are out and not worry about it.
brewbeer
Well-Known Member
I think @sunandsky is renting an apartment? Getting new circuits installed for an indoor gardening hobby doesn't really seem like a request the landlord would rush to do. However, you could probably run one of the air conditioners or the dehumidifier off the washing machine outlet if you used a heavy duty 12 gage extention cord. A dehumidifier is more or less an air conditioner so it is a heavy user of electricity. And @Lurrabq is right, those old Federal Pacific panels were problematic, some unfortunately were prone to catching fire.
Xcoregamerskillz
Well-Known Member
Everything he's running runs on 120v.
Xcoregamerskillz
Well-Known Member
Yep, Federal Pacific is no good. You're playing with fire, literally, just by approaching the maximum limit on any of those breakers. All the old timers I know tell horror stories about those things. Never saw one before myself.
BabyAndaconda420
Well-Known Member
Wtf??
WeedFreak78
Well-Known Member
WTF @ wires vibrating loose? I've never seen or heard anything so ridiculous, at least in regards to the household voltages were talking. I know high tension lines vibrate at audible frequencies, but those are running hundreds of thousands of volts.. not 240.I think your cheapest easiest fix would be replace the main breaker and go thru tighten every screw that holds a wire. when current travels thru wire it vibrates and over long periods of time they can become loose and cause excess power loss. I know if I was renting I wouldn't want to put anymore money into it than I had to. And you could do it in 15-20 min when lights are out and not worry about it.
prostheticninja
Well-Known Member
Generator in an apartment complex. Doesn't that sound ideal to you?
I was joking, but honestly, I would rather listen to my neighbor's generator than have them continue to compromise the safety of the entire building by overloading a circuit.
combatvet2009
Member
lol yes I was a licensed electrician for years and a controls and automation tech... a panel that is 20+ years needs it done. I guess if you were an electrician you would know that weedfreak78 
.... and if your replacing a breaker with a matching new breaker how would you be overloading the panel? it has a 125 amp in it... you take it out and put another "new" 125 amp breaker in... how are you going to overload the system that was made for 125 amp using 125 amp?
.... and if your replacing a breaker with a matching new breaker how would you be overloading the panel? it has a 125 amp in it... you take it out and put another "new" 125 amp breaker in... how are you going to overload the system that was made for 125 amp using 125 amp?
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Dr. Who
Well-Known Member
Now he has to use 2 outlets or 2 lines to connect a single 220 outlet via a paired 15 amp breaker (30 amp). You going to divide that again at that 220 drier plug? I mean how are you running a 110 AC out of a 3 prong triangle 220 drier/stove plug?
So yeah, now he'll have a 30 amp combined - 2 outlet 110.....If he needs to use the other outlet. He needs to be sure the total amps from those outlets are going to be less then that 30 amps still! Remember that every electrical appliance/light, etc. Draws more then it's running rated amp draw to start up!....The AC sits and idle's....The minute it fires up the condenser system to actually cool. The same effect happens. "Overdraw" for a brief period, say 1-2 second period. This is most likely the straw that breaks the breaker....So keeping the total amps down below that 30 is important.
His AC most likely draws 9.8 amps as it runs.....Start up peak is rather close to that 15 amp line - if that's on a 15 amp line. Changing the breakers is possible - they still make the Fed Pac "stab-lok" breakers and I see them in the big box home improvement stores.......There is still 2800 fires a year blamed on Fed Pac Stab-Lok failures! So I don't know if the new ones are made to a higher quality or not....The problem with them was a 1 in 4 failure to actually "trip".
The amp draw for those lines in that box are running pretty damn close to the 125 amp limit, so we can't really "add" a new breaker and run new a line..I mean count whats in the box - don't exactly look safe to me...your idea may work. The limiting factor is how he needs his outlets available in that area and what they run.
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