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Breaker keeps tripping all of a sudden?
Basically, the breaker for my/my roommates room has been tripping constantly, starting just a day or two ago. The weird thing is that it only appears to trip when an air conditioner is turned on. The reason I say this is weird, is because my old AC, rated at 5.2 amps had worked fine for years before this, and when it started tripping the breaker I thought the compressor in it was faulty or something, resulting in me buying a new AC, rated at 5.9 amps. I'm still getting the tripping with this new AC even with nothing else on on the entire breaker, but when I try running my PC, and monitor, it doesn't trip. I'm running an i7 5820k overclocked to 4.6ghz@1.35v and a GTX 980 which should give an idea as to the amps my pc uses. As far as I'm aware, my PC should be drawing more amps than either of those AC Units. I should also mention that ive had no trouble running both my PC while in a demanding game, and my old AC at the coolest setting at the same time for years. The breaker is 20amps, no idea the gauge of the wire, I rent the house and know next to nothing about this topic. Any idea what's wrong? Thanks
7 Answers
- Anonymous4 years ago
Put the AC on a separate dedicated circuit. The reason it takes some time to trip is the amp draw of the unit and the breaker needs to get warm before it can trip.
- ?Lv 75 years ago
What's wrong?
How about you get a clamp ammeter and measure the current on the wire that is connected to that circuit breaker.
I use the 80% rule, even though it has a time rating. 80% of 20 amps = 16 amps. Is it tripping the circuut breaker at less than 16 amps?
Sometimes a circuit breaker becomes defective. But usually, it is faithfully doing its job. That means plug something into a different circuit.
Your air conditioner seems to be the problem.
Source(s): Electrical guy since the 1960s - hollifieldrobertLv 65 years ago
replace circuit breaker when they get old the get weak and will trip any time a load or high current draw is on them a 20 amp breaker that has been used in a high load outlet washer fridge etc will be a 10 amp breaker after 20 years
- Jim WLv 75 years ago
Put the AC on a separate dedicated circuit. The reason it takes some time to trip is the amp draw of the unit and the breaker needs to get warm before it can trip.
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- ◄WhoMe►Lv 75 years ago
Your outlet is probably bad. I have seen this happen, when the compressor starts, the air conditioner draws a high amperage, a 20 amp breaker will handle that fine, but not if there is arcing in the outlet. That's what trips the breaker. You can run that AC unit and you PC on that circuit just fine. Try replacing the AC outlet
- JoeLv 75 years ago
There's an "inrush" current when the AC compressor switches on, but it shouldn't be enough to trip the breaker with nothing else on the circuit.
My first thought is that there are loads on that circuit that you don't know about; another room, or appliance.
Less likely, but easier to deal with, would be the possibility the the breaker is getting ready to fail. Individual circuit breakers are not terribly expensive, and easy to replace. You probably don't have the experience to do this safely, though, so call your landlord.
Least likely possibility is that a wiring fault is drawing power continuously somewhere on the circuit. This could be a fire hazard.
- 5 years ago
I should also mention that it does not trip when I have only my router plugged in/on. I tried running the AC on a different outlet and the same thing happened. Also I don't know if I mentioned this or if it matters, but it also takes a few min to trip.
