Circuit Breaker Keeps Tripping with High Load

[Neil4Speed]

Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone might have a suggestion for me. I live in a Condo and currently have quite a few high draw devices running off the same breaker (Plasma TV, Receiver, Computer, Lamp, and most recently the addition of a 1800W Portable Air Conditioner). If I have everything on, it causes the 15A breaker to trip making everything turn off.

How can I upgrade the breaker to accommodate for the heavy electrical load on this circuit?

[rage2]

The breaker is there to protect you from burning your condo down. You can upgrade all the wiring along with it to properly upgrade the breaker, or you can just plug stuff in elsewhere on a different circuit, which is what everyone else would do.

[carson blocks]

I'm not an electrician, but you need to check what gauge of wire is run, and ensure it is rated for a bigger breaker. If you put 15a rated wire on a 20a breaker, you're asking for a house fire. I'd be tempted to split some stuff off to a different/new circuit, especially if you can put the plug for the A/C on it's own circuit.

[spikerS]

Originally posted by Neil4Speed
Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone might have a suggestion for me. I live in a Condo and currently have quite a few high draw devices running off the same breaker (Plasma TV, Receiver, Computer, Lamp, and most recently the addition of a 1800W Portable Air Conditioner). If I have everything on, it causes the 15A breaker to trip making everything turn off.

How can I upgrade the breaker to accommodate for the heavy electrical load on this circuit?

Plug the AC unit in somewhere else, when that fires up, the current draw it makes is huge, and causing the breaker to trip. Just run an extension cord into another room along the baseboard.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Neil4Speed

and most recently the addition of a 1800W Portable Air Conditioner). If I have everything on, it causes the 15A breaker to trip making everything turn off.

Lol, 1800W = 16.36 amps.

Get a smaller air conditioner.

Originally posted by spikerS


Plug the AC unit in somewhere else, when that fires up, the current draw it makes is huge, and causing the breaker to trip. Just run an extension cord into another room along the baseboard.

If you do this, buy a heavy duty extension. That's a lot of power to draw through a normal household cord for the length you would need.

[carson blocks]

Also, I think that 1800w A/C would technically require it's own circuit. I'm no engineer and my math skills are only slightly above Mar level, but 1800w/120v is 15a. If your household voltage is below 120v at all, you'll actually be drawing more than 15a. There's power factor and a bunch of other stuff that's admittedly over my head, but my point is that sounds like a device for a dedicated circuit. That and one light bulb should blow the breaker by my marth. Maybe an EE can clarify.

[Disoblige]

The 1800W AC alone should be on its own circuit.
I assume you're running off of receptacles w/ 15A breakers. So split your outlet usages accordingly.

In regards to changing the breaker, that is also possible but you need to check your conductor size as carson mentioned to see if you can accommodate that larger breaker.

[pheoxs]

Originally posted by carson blocks
Also, I think that 1800w A/C would technically require it's own circuit. I'm no engineer and my math skills are only slightly above Mar level, but 1800w/120v is 15a. If your household voltage is below 120v at all, you'll actually be drawing more than 15a. There's power factor and a bunch of other stuff that's admittedly over my head, but my point is that sounds like a device for a dedicated circuit. That and one light bulb should blow the breaker by my marth. Maybe an EE can clarify.

Yes and no. It doesn't draw 1800W all the time. It's rated to pull 1800W at peak. This might just be during the initial spike when the compressor starts up or something. Either way it definitely should be on its own circuit.

@OP I would find a different outlet that is unused and on a different circuit and run a cord over to that. Upgrading a circuit isn't a simple DIY job and being in a condo it's likely not even possible to do legitimately.

[jacky4566]

Its more like ~112v in Alberta. Every time I have measured it for shit and giggles.

OP you have too many devices on one circuit. Just run a cord or open a window.

I would also suggest replacing the breaker if its an older building. Breakers can lose thier accuracy and break too soon if they are getting old. OR if you want to try any burn your house down upgrade to a 20 amp breaker and dont tell anyone ROFL.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by jacky4566
Its more like ~112v in Alberta. Every time I have measured it for shit and giggles.

I would also suggest replacing the breaker if its an older building. Breakers can lose thier accuracy and break too soon if they are getting old. OR if you want to try any burn your house down upgrade to a 20 amp breaker and dont tell anyone ROFL.

I always use 110v when I do the math, that pretty much covers any household situation.

Also, I was told by a city electrical inspector, if your house burns down, they can actually determine what kind of circuit breaker was in the panel, and can even tell what brand it is. I don't know how true that is, but he noticed a couple of mine weren't of the same make as the rest, and couldn't fail me on them because they weren't part of what his inspection was for, but warned me about that.

Although OP, if you aren't scared of your panel, I do recommend checking the torque of the screws on the breaker. Last summer my 100amp household breaker kept tripping for no reason, and I found the screws had loosened over time. As soon as I retorqued them, problem solved.

[Disoblige]

Originally posted by pheoxs


Yes and no. It doesn't draw 1800W all the time. It's rated to pull 1800W at peak. This might just be during the initial spike when the compressor starts up or something. Either way it definitely should be on its own circuit.

The 1800W is the max output when it is running on full capacity, yes. But, this power rating (1800W) does not account for the inrush current you're talking about. If OP can run the AC and not have the breaker trip immediately, we know inrush current is not an issue.

For OP's situation, it just looks like the connected load is too much for the current breaker size.

The A/C should be on its own circuit w/ a 20A breaker with the proper conductor sizing.

[Darell_n]

Rule of thumb for compressor inrush is 5x the full load amp draw. You absolutely need an empty circuit for this air conditioner, and even then may occasionally trip the breaker while starting.

[Neil4Speed]

Wow, thanks guys for schooling me. This might all be a challenge for me as I don't have anywhere else to Vent the AC other than where my TV and computer etc are.

I always thought that the breaker was an easily replaceable, and that it wasn't due to the wiring situation. I would really rather not burn down my place so I won't touch anything until I get an electrician in to see what we can do.

If I just have the AC running (No TV/Receiver but PC), it runs fine without any issues.

What a pain in the arse haha.

[firebane]

Originally posted by Neil4Speed
Wow, thanks guys for schooling me. This might all be a challenge for me as I don't have anywhere else to Vent the AC other than where my TV and computer etc are.

I always thought that the breaker was an easily replaceable, and that it wasn't due to the wiring situation. I would really rather not burn down my place so I won't touch anything until I get an electrician in to see what we can do.

If I just have the AC running (No TV/Receiver but PC), it runs fine without any issues.

What a pain in the arse haha.

Wiring needs to be a specific size to take on the load. You could probably get away with using a 12/3 extension cord as long as its not SUPER long to plug into another circuit.

When you pop the circuit in your place find an outlet that is as close as possible to where you want the AC and use that with the extension cord.

[Neil4Speed]

Originally posted by firebane


Wiring needs to be a specific size to take on the load. You could probably get away with using a 12/3 extension cord as long as its not SUPER long to plug into another circuit.

When you pop the circuit in your place find an outlet that is as close as possible to where you want the AC and use that with the extension cord.

Issue is due to the set up of my place, I'll be running an extension cord a very long (unsightly) way, But if thats what I have to do, thats fine. I also realized the specs were different that I initially thought, so maybe I can move things around a little to accommodate.:

Input Power 1320W
Operating Cycle 11.5A