breaker popped!

Frankysreef

Frankysreef

Active member
My breaker 20 amp popped yesterday, and of course my tank shut down.

I got home from work and tank is calm as a pond. Scary reset breaker everything starts back up perfectly.

Sump overflows 5 gals... ( my fault, sump isnt big enough ) Still trying to figure out a way to save that 5 gals...

But I wonder what made the breaker pop?

tank has been running on this circuit for over a year.

Amps at 18.. breaker is at 20. Chiller has been running like crazy though.

Wife turned the ac on in sep part of house... shouldnt affect it...

SCE problem?

Also.. I set up a new receptacle box near the top of my tank for 2 more pumps, and while screwing around... live receptacle box falls in water... Thank god I installed dual GFCI's 20 amp too.. gfci breaks, and everything fine...

I dry out the box and turn it on, and it works fine...

I sure would like to find one of those ac interrupt battery powered air pumps just in case power gets tripped again...

Anyone know where to get one?

thanks

Frank
 
It probably popped because of high surge current. For example, if your lights turn on while the chiller is running. You might want to stagger lights if you haven't already done so. Turn on one light at a time. Also circuit breakers do go bad. Some devices do compensate for brown out conditions so the current is higher but it's not likely that you have that problem.
 
Those battery backup unit that make for the computers works as well. Frys, Computer store, Tigerdirect, etc.. all have them.
 
It's not SCE. It's your load on the circuit or your internal electrical system.

You THINK you are pulling 18 amps off that circuit, but not everything has their power labelled correctly. For example, a lighting system might say it's "200 watts" but actually pulls 275 watts IN to OUTPUT 200 watts.

Unless you have a dedicated circuit, you may also have other items running off that circuit, even if they are in the different part of the house.

Alternately, it might be an old breaker going bad that popped too soon.

Either way, you are really pushing your safety margin running 18 amps on that circuit and need to split the load up to different circuits.
 
It's the amps that count... not the watts. Tank and TV on seperate circuit.

It has been running for over a year on the same circuit. Still blaming SCE
 
Start up surge current can be many times the rated current. The reason why circuit breakers don't always trip is because it needs to heat up. If you're already close to the limit, it will trip under the right condition (couple items turning on at same time). If you insist that it's SCE, then you should contact them. No point in asking if you're sure it's SCE.
 
We'll see if it happens again... I live on the peninsula, and all the trasnformers are on poles, and all the salt air fries them.

One day a transformer exploded onto my truck, blasted it with sparks and my driveway..

This was about 5-6 yrs ago.

I hope this isnt happening again... They are supposed to be burying the lines... but it is taking years.
 
you want to NOT exceed 80% on your breakers for very long, I'd say your over that. You,ve been a bad boy and should feel lucky.
 
Blame it on SCE all you want, but it's not thier fault.

A 20 amp breaker is designed to trip BEFORE it hits 20 amps. 18 amps on a 20 amp breaker is too much. Just because it has tripped before doesn't mean that it's safe.

You've recieved good advice here, but choose to not accept it & try & blame SCE. Lets hope it don't happen, but SCE won't take the blame when your house burns down.

Steve :D
 
18 amps is full capacity... with all lights pumps + TV + Stereo... TV is 42" plasma...

If worse comes to worse I can always plug the TV into a different circuit.
 
houses burning down? Come on.... Exaggerating a bit arent you? There is 12-2 wire running in my house, which can handle 20 amps or more.... So I seriously doubt I can have an electrical fire.

Maybe some houses that have 14-2, but that is why there is a 20 amp breaker instead of a 15.

At the most a breaker will trip again.
 
Breaker's tripping for a reason.....................If it was me, I'd do everything possible to make sure it didn't happen again.

A wire can get quite warm w/ 18 amps running thru it...............if there's any "flaws" or "nicks" in the wire, it can create more problems. I'd want to get to the bottom of this, but if you're fine w/ just resetting the breaker, hey who am I to tell you you're wrong??????
 
No exaggerating at all about houses burning down. How do you know every bit of wire is 12 gauge? How many jokers have your heard on RC on electricity threads saying they just replaced their breaker with a bigger one... leaving a dangerous situation for the unknowing next person when they move in?

Your internal wiring issues in no way relates to SCE.

This was your warning -- I'd pay attention.
 
new house, guaranteed 12. Been in the walls... And it is not a constant 18...

Why am I defending myself here...

Forget this thread.
 
Alrighty. I sounded like you were wondering what happened.

Good luck -- and get a bigger sump! 5 gallons on the floor is wa-aay to much!
 
Franky , You asked for advice and got some good advice. You should be saying thanks!
A lot of things use more current at start up and as they get older. 18 amps will be fine on a 20 amp breaker for a while but not for ever!
 
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