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Post by genesis273 on Feb 1, 2023 21:38:05 GMT -5
Full disclaimer, I am not an electrician nor do I enjoy doing anything electrical.
We've lived in this house for 21 years now. During this time, my wife has consistently blown the breaker while drying her hair.
The breaker is a 15 amp double pole. If I swap that breaker out for a 20 amp, will that help stop this issue? Or should I replace the outlet?
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Post by esshup on Feb 2, 2023 0:15:00 GMT -5
Full disclaimer, I am not an electrician nor do I enjoy doing anything electrical. We've lived in this house for 21 years now. During this time, my wife has consistently blown the breaker while drying her hair. The breaker is a 15 amp double pole. If I swap that breaker out for a 20 amp, will that help stop this issue? Or should I replace the outlet? I would go, shut off that breaker and see what all is running on it (what is NOT working now with the breaker off?). It possibly could be overloaded. See what's all running and add up the load on the breaker. I would not swap out the breaker for a 20a breaker until you determined the load AND the wire size on it. Breakers are there to trip if the circuit is overloaded. If the circuit is overloaded and the breaker doesn't trip, then the wire heats up, and could possibly start a fire, which would NOT be a good thing. You could call in an electrician and see if he can balance the load on the breakers. That might take some load off of that breaker depending how much it is feeding.
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Post by deadeer on Feb 2, 2023 1:15:21 GMT -5
The breaker could also be wore out from tripping a few times and weak. Have experienced it a couple times between home and work.
Definately DO NOT put in higher amp breaker as said without upgrading wire gauge size.
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Post by treetop on Feb 2, 2023 5:54:38 GMT -5
Full disclaimer, I am not an electrician nor do I enjoy doing anything electrical. We've lived in this house for 21 years now. During this time, my wife has consistently blown the breaker while drying her hair. The breaker is a 15 amp double pole. If I swap that breaker out for a 20 amp, will that help stop this issue? Or should I replace the outlet? I would go, shut off that breaker and see what all is running on it (what is NOT working now with the breaker off?). It possibly could be overloaded. See what's all running and add up the load on the breaker. I would not swap out the breaker for a 20a breaker until you determined the load AND the wire size on it. Breakers are there to trip if the circuit is overloaded. If the circuit is overloaded and the breaker doesn't trip, then the wire heats up, and could possibly start a fire, which would NOT be a good thing. You could call in an electrician and see if he can balance the load on the breakers. That might take some load off of that breaker depending how much it is feeding. What he said Try the hair dryer on a few other plugs not tied to bathroom still on 15 amp circuits that will tell you if that’s circuit or maybe the dryer. It maybe above your comfort level but if you find all the plugs hooked with the bathroom check them for a lose wire this will also cause high amp draw even if it’s 3 plugs back it could still cause a issue. Most breakers are reasonable and not hard to change but if you don’t believe you have that skill set hire someone Older homes the bathrooms were considered low amp draw no one had all the stuff we use today
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Post by genesis273 on Feb 2, 2023 7:22:03 GMT -5
I'm okay with swapping out a breaker but, rewiring to even out the load is beyond what I want to mess with.
That breaker has all the lights on the east side of the house and the well on it.
I'm wondering, since she dries her hair after getting out of the shower, if the hair dryer is too much with the well running too.
A weak breaker makes since too. The last couple times she tripped it, it feels loose and didn't want to stay on when I would flip it back.
Thanks for the input. I am glad I didn't just swap it out without asking first.
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Post by greghopper on Feb 2, 2023 7:26:40 GMT -5
If it’s in the bathroom then the outlet is most likely a ground fault circuit outlet I would think that should be tripping first unless it’s bad.
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Post by HuntMeister on Feb 2, 2023 7:32:15 GMT -5
Replace the breaker with one of the same size and see if it holds. Old one is likely worn due to excessive tripping. Bathrooms are required by code to have a dedicated 20 amp circuit serving them. How old is this home? Likely the only way to cure the issue is to shed some of the loads off of this circuit or add a dedicated circuit for the bathroom. When you replace the breaker, closely inspect the bus connection point to the circuit breaker for damage due to overload and arching. If you find any, clean it up if not extensive or move to another location if badly damaged. Unless you can confirm wire size and all of the specific loads connected, I would NOT upsize the breaker. Basically, 15 amp breaker are required for 14AWG wire and 20 amp breakers for 12AWG wire.
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Post by jman46151 on Feb 2, 2023 8:37:54 GMT -5
If it’s in the bathroom then the outlet is most likely a ground fault circuit outlet I would think that should be tripping first unless it’s bad. The GFCI outlet will also get weak just like a breaker from tripping too many times.
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Post by Mack Apiary Bees on Feb 2, 2023 8:48:13 GMT -5
All good advice.
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Post by treetop on Feb 2, 2023 9:19:55 GMT -5
I'm okay with swapping out a breaker but, rewiring to even out the load is beyond what I want to mess with. That breaker has all the lights on the east side of the house and the well on it. I'm wondering, since she dries her hair after getting out of the shower, if the hair dryer is too much with the well running too. A weak breaker makes since too. The last couple times she tripped it, it feels loose and didn't want to stay on when I would flip it back. Thanks for the input. I am glad I didn't just swap it out without asking first. Most lights pull very few amps I’d guess it’s the well pump with the dryer running at same time
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Post by HuntMeister on Feb 2, 2023 9:36:35 GMT -5
Most lights pull very few amps I’d guess it’s the well pump with the dryer running at same time I can’t believe the well pump and dryer would be on the same breaker…. Most if not all dryers are not 110 volts It's called a multi wire branch circuit, I do not care for the practice but, it is allowed by NEC. Problem in this situation is it needs to be a dedicated circuit for the bathroom. From the sounds of it, many items are shared on this circuit.
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Post by bgiancola on Feb 2, 2023 9:42:50 GMT -5
Electrical engineer here and all of the information above is very true.
Cannot upsize breaker without assuring wire size for allowable ampacities and breaker DO indeed get weak.
Some places are poorly laid out, electrically. A dedicated circuit is your best option here.
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Post by esshup on Feb 2, 2023 10:40:39 GMT -5
I'm okay with swapping out a breaker but, rewiring to even out the load is beyond what I want to mess with. That breaker has all the lights on the east side of the house and the well on it. I'm wondering, since she dries her hair after getting out of the shower, if the hair dryer is too much with the well running too. A weak breaker makes since too. The last couple times she tripped it, it feels loose and didn't want to stay on when I would flip it back. Thanks for the input. I am glad I didn't just swap it out without asking first. When I had an electrician here, he balanced out the house but it did not require any additional wire, just swapping wires around in the breaker panel. So, I don't know if this falls under your "rewiring" thought or not. I did have to make new labels for the breaker panel after he was finished.
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Post by treetop on Feb 2, 2023 14:37:32 GMT -5
I can’t believe the well pump and dryer would be on the same breaker…. Most if not all dryers are not 110 volts It's called a multi wire branch circuit, I do not care for the practice but, it is allowed by NEC. Problem in this situation is it needs to be a dedicated circuit for the bathroom. From the sounds of it, many items are shared on this circuit. Should of said hair dryer I found it odd his well was a 110 but I’ve seen some and seen some shallow well pumps that are odd yes but they are around
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Post by treetop on Feb 2, 2023 14:51:14 GMT -5
If the well pump is on that circuit it would be cheeper to add a circuit just for that and remove it from bathroom circuit if that ends up being the case don’t know your home but normally the breaker box furnace well pump/tank are located close to each other and normally not in a finished room that you would have to tear up
Myself no more than breakers cost I’d replace it regardless it’s been tripping and that means it’s been maxed out on more than one occasion could still be good but it’s probably older and weaker now that’s been tripping
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Post by HuntMeister on Feb 2, 2023 15:02:30 GMT -5
It's called a multi wire branch circuit, I do not care for the practice but, it is allowed by NEC. Problem in this situation is it needs to be a dedicated circuit for the bathroom. From the sounds of it, many items are shared on this circuit. Should of said hair dryer I found it odd his well was a 110 but I’ve seen some and seen some shallow well pumps that are odd yes but they are around With a multi wire branch circuit, you could have 240V single phase equipment and 120V equipment served from the same 2-pole breaker so the well pump could be 240V single phase.
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Post by treetop on Feb 2, 2023 15:14:49 GMT -5
Should of said hair dryer I found it odd his well was a 110 but I’ve seen some and seen some shallow well pumps that are odd yes but they are around With a multi wire branch circuit, you could have 240V single phase equipment and 120V equipment served from the same 2-pole breaker so the well pump could be 240V single phase. So you pull one leg for 110 off a 220 circuit I don’t believe I’ve seen that done but I’m not a electrician just been in the trades all my life and have a fairly good knowledge of things
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Post by HuntMeister on Feb 2, 2023 15:24:40 GMT -5
With a multi wire branch circuit, you could have 240V single phase equipment and 120V equipment served from the same 2-pole breaker so the well pump could be 240V single phase. So you pull one leg for 110 off a 220 circuit I don’t believe I’ve seen that done but I’m not a electrician just been in the trades all my life and have a fairly good knowledge of things Typically, you pull a neutral with the two "hot" conductors from the two-pole breaker. You can use the two hot conductors without the neutral for 240V and share the neutral with each individual hot conductor for two separate 120V circuits. Lots of rules and exceptions to this wiring method.
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Post by esshup on Feb 2, 2023 16:24:29 GMT -5
With a multi wire branch circuit, you could have 240V single phase equipment and 120V equipment served from the same 2-pole breaker so the well pump could be 240V single phase. So you pull one leg for 110 off a 220 circuit I don’t believe I’ve seen that done but I’m not a electrician just been in the trades all my life and have a fairly good knowledge of things There is/was weird things in older houses. When I bought this place there was a really weird receptacle in the same box with the light switch in the bathroom. Top part was 220v, bottom was 110v. The top one had a trace of magic smoke around it, and it didn't work. I had an electrician come and change it, he said he's never seen that before and swapped it to a 110v GFCI. Now that stopped working last month and I need to swap it out. Luckily I can do that myself. In the house that I grew up in, there was an electric heater that was built into the wall and it was covered by the towels that were hanging on the towel rack. You could stand in the tub and turn it on if you wanted to...... The house was built in 1953 and it was put there when the house was built.
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Post by genesis273 on Feb 2, 2023 16:43:58 GMT -5
Replace the breaker with one of the same size and see if it holds. Old one is likely worn due to excessive tripping. Bathrooms are required by code to have a dedicated 20 amp circuit serving them. How old is this home? Likely the only way to cure the issue is to shed some of the loads off of this circuit or add a dedicated circuit for the bathroom. When you replace the breaker, closely inspect the bus connection point to the circuit breaker for damage due to overload and arching. If you find any, clean it up if not extensive or move to another location if badly damaged. Unless you can confirm wire size and all of the specific loads connected, I would NOT upsize the breaker. Basically, 15 amp breaker are required for 14AWG wire and 20 amp breakers for 12AWG wire. The house was new in 2002.
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