Circuit keeps tripping... can I replace it?

jdro

jdro

Well-Known Member
So in the room with my tent, when the ac runs for like 4-5 hours straight the circuit will start to trip if I dont turn it off for a while. When I was in Home Depot I saw different circuits. Could I replace mine to a bigger one in the circuit breaker box? Im in a condo and rewiring is out of the question. I think I am going to run a extension cord for the AC to a different room, but if I could just increase the circuit a alittle that would be great. I dont know a whole lot about doing electric.
 
GeeTee

GeeTee

Well-Known Member
the answer is no unless whoever wired your condo wired it with a bigger size wire from the get go
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
and depending on that AC you'd better get a pretty big cord(not long) or you'll burn that fucker down, I used an insufficient cord to run my portable for awhile then I noticed the end burned, I instantly shelled out the green (and I do mean green) for a dude to come in and wire me up.
 
jdro

jdro

Well-Known Member
Yes its 15 amp. I have good cords that we use on the construction site Im sure they can run an ac unit.
 
rzza

rzza

Well-Known Member
open the panel and follow the black wire that goes into the breaker you wanna switch. read the writing on it ....12 awg 600volt = switch to 20 amp and problem solved. 14 awg 600volt = find an alternative.
 
D

doser

Well-Known Member
up it to 20,
Have some one who knows what they're doin do it for you though. otherwise people will call ya Sparky forever

That and buy a new fire extinguisher while you're down at the depot

We're all up into covering our bases here in my own private Idaho
 
Biologically Incorrect

Biologically Incorrect

Active Member
You can if its 15 you can pop a 25 in there no problem (both can be ran on the same gauge wire). You start running into problems when you are running a lot of watts/amps do to the restraint of the house wiring not being big enough. A 35 or 50 watt fuse would probably be too big and could start a fire.

Make sure to turn off your main and from there its pretty simple just wire like already wired. Most newer breakers pop out with a flat head.

Peace out.

jdro said:
Yes its 15 amp. I have good cords that we use on the construction site Im sure they can run an ac unit.
Click to expand...
 
rzza

rzza

Well-Known Member
Biologically Incorrect said:
You can if its 15 you can pop a 25 in there no problem (both can be ran on the same gauge wire). You start running into problems when you are running a lot of watts/amps do to the restraint of the house wiring not being big enough. A 35 or 50 watt fuse would probably be too big and could start a fire.

Make sure to turn off your main and from there its pretty simple just wire like already wired. Most newer breakers pop out with a flat head.

Peace out.
Click to expand...
dont listen to this guy. LOL

WTF?
 
tat2ue

tat2ue

Well-Known Member
rzza said:
dont listen to this guy. LOL

WTF?
Click to expand...
And this is why... If your 15 amp circuit breaker keeps tripping after awhile it is due to the circuit pulling more electricity than the wire in that circuit can handle. When this happens the wire (circuit) starts to overload and builds up excessive heat in the circuit and the thermal protection in the circuit breaker kicks it off to prevent the wire from going into meltdown and starting an electrical fire in either the panel or within the walls where the wire is ran.

DON'T just change the breaker to a larger amp and think that will solve the problem. This will only compound it and more than likely start an electrical fire in your condo.

The reason you DON'T just change to a bigger amp breaker is this....If you increase the amp load in the circuit without increasing the size/gauge of the wire within that circuit what will happen is that now it will take even more excessive heat build up in the circuit before the breakers thermal protection will trip the circuit. But usually before the bigger breaker trips, the smaller gauge wire can't handle the over load and starts to melt the insulation and start an electrical fire inside your walls.

15 amp = 14 ga wire......80%=12 amps
20 amp = 12 ga wire......80%=16amps

And always keep your total amps at about 80% of what the circuit was designed to handle
 
tat2ue

tat2ue

Well-Known Member
jdro said:
So in the room with my tent, when the ac runs for like 4-5 hours straight the circuit will start to trip if I dont turn it off for a while. When I was in Home Depot I saw different circuits. Could I replace mine to a bigger one in the circuit breaker box? Im in a condo and rewiring is out of the question. I think I am going to run a extension cord for the AC to a different room, but if I could just increase the circuit a alittle that would be great. I dont know a whole lot about doing electric.
Click to expand...
Do you have a washer and dryer in your condo??? If so, is the dryer a 110 or a 220/240 amp circuit? Dryers run on their own dedicated circuit which is usually 30 amps. If so, Then you may be able to use this circuit for your heavy amp load devices. If the dryer is a 240...they make units that can plug into dryer receptical and feeds into a gang box and give you 120 and 240 amp plugs....just a thought.
 
Biologically Incorrect

Biologically Incorrect

Active Member
Sorry for the confusion, I was mistaken on the gauge and breaker. I did however wire my grow room no problem. I know plenty about electricity also. There are other things to think about as mentioned, you need to know your wire size and what your breaker box can handle.

The math for wattage that can be used for how many amps is: amp times volts = watts times 80% as you do not want to exceed more than 80% of the maximum load. So a 20 amp fuse at 110 would be 20x110x.8= 1760 watts with a theoretical max of 2200 watts.

Here's a wire gauge chart I found that will help you out:

Wire-Gauge-Chart.jpg

Peace out

rzza said:
dont listen to this guy. LOL

WTF?
Click to expand...
 
M

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
if your ac runs for several hours b4 tripping, you must be dancing on the edge of overloading the circiut. what else is on that circiut? can you drop something? a breaker will cover more than one room so it may be as simple as moving a clock radio and lamp in the next bedroom to a different outlet.
another option would be to swap breakers w/ another of the same size. 2 breakers rated for 15 amps will not always trip at exactly the same wattage.I have seen a 20 amp breaker trip at a 14 amp load while the 1 next to it took the table saw (14 amp load) and ran several 100 watt lights.
& anyone telling you to just pop a larger breaker in is someone who doesn't know what they are talking about & should not give advise about something they know nothing about.
 
jdro

jdro

Well-Known Member
Ok guys thanks so much for all the advice. So I think first thing I need to do is open a outlet on the wall in the room with the tent and check the wire gauge. In that room which is all one one circuit breaker I have a 600w HPS, 8000BTU AC, 2 small inline duct fans, 1 large can fan, 2 t5 fluorescents, box fan, clone machine, and tv on occasionally. I notice when the breaker is tripping when I go to reset it I can feel it is very hot. I do have a dryer in the same room as my circuit breaker, but its not very close to the room with my tent. I think that switching out the breaker with the same size breaker may be a good thought. The permit sticker on the electric box when it was built is from 1988. I do have 2 fire extinguishers, one in the grow room, one in the kitchen.
 
Biologically Incorrect

Biologically Incorrect

Active Member
We're telling him to do that if his wiring permits it, not everyone that gave that advise doesn't know what they are talking about. A new fuse may or may not work as his old one may or may not be worn out, which they do after breaking so many times.

Peace out

mrmadcow said:
if your ac runs for several hours b4 tripping, you must be dancing on the edge of overloading the circiut. what else is on that circiut? can you drop something? a breaker will cover more than one room so it may be as simple as moving a clock radio and lamp in the next bedroom to a different outlet.
another option would be to swap breakers w/ another of the same size. 2 breakers rated for 15 amps will not always trip at exactly the same wattage.I have seen a 20 amp breaker trip at a 14 amp load while the 1 next to it took the table saw (14 amp load) and ran several 100 watt lights.
& anyone telling you to just pop a larger breaker in is someone who doesn't know what they are talking about & should not give advise about something they know nothing about.
Click to expand...
 
M

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
Biologically Incorrect said:
We're telling him to do that if his wiring permits it, not everyone that gave that advise doesn't know what they are talking about....
Click to expand...
my remark was about those who just want him to slap a bigger breaker in
for example;
doser said:
up it to 20,
Have some one who knows what they're doin do it for you though. otherwise people will call ya Sparky forever....
Click to expand...

Biologically Incorrect said:
You can if its 15 you can pop a 25 in there no problem (both can be ran on the same gauge wire). You start running into problems when you are running a lot of watts/amps do to the restraint of the house wiring not being big enough. .....
Click to expand...
but at least you corrected yourself in your followup post ;)
 
M

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
jdro said:
... In that room which is all one one circuit breaker I have a 600w HPS, 8000BTU AC, 2 small inline duct fans, 1 large can fan, 2 t5 fluorescents, box fan, clone machine, and tv on occasionally........
Click to expand...
bet if you moved all the fans to another breaker,it will solve your problem. even if a new breaker stops the tripping, you may want to move the fans so as to not max out that circuit.
 
M

mattman

Well-Known Member
pay someone to come do it.... I recently had a buddy burn down his room trying to do exactly what your doing.
 
D

doser

Well-Known Member
tat2ue said:
And this is why... If your 15 amp circuit breaker keeps tripping after awhile it is due to the circuit pulling more electricity than the wire in that circuit can handle. When this happens the wire (circuit) starts to overload and builds up excessive heat in the circuit and the thermal protection in the circuit breaker kicks it off to prevent the wire from going into meltdown and starting an electrical fire in either the panel or within the walls where the wire is ran.

DON'T just change the breaker to a larger amp and think that will solve the problem. This will only compound it and more than likely start an electrical fire in your condo.

The reason you DON'T just change to a bigger amp breaker is this....If you increase the amp load in the circuit without increasing the size/gauge of the wire within that circuit what will happen is that now it will take even more excessive heat build up in the circuit before the breakers thermal protection will trip the circuit. But usually before the bigger breaker trips, the smaller gauge wire can't handle the over load and starts to melt the insulation and start an electrical fire inside your walls.

15 amp = 14 ga wire......80%=12 amps
20 amp = 12 ga wire......80%=16amps

And always keep your total amps at about 80% of what the circuit was designed to handle
Click to expand...
Where is your spirit of adventure?
Where is your thirst for excitement?
Where is your fire exstinguisher?
your f
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top