Juiceman Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I am flipping the breaker every 30mins or so. I plugged in my chiller and its pump into another breaker area with an extension cord and it went for about 2 hours and then flipped again. Is it that I have too many things running or could I have something shorting in my pumps etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Sounds, to me, that you are overloading the circuit. If you can isolate the chiller to something that isnt pulling any current, such as a closet light, see what happens. Why do you need to run a chiller? It's almost bedtime/lights out anyways, so if the lights go out you may not trip a breaker overnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 I have flipped it in my apartment before the move but that was 15 gauge. I just split the equipment between 2 breakers and didn't have anymore trouble. At the new house it's a 20 amp and there's not another plug near it that's a different breaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Problem with the equipment? Is there a fuse on the chiller? Grasping at straws here as I don't have a chiller. Since y'all just moved in, I'd take some time and isolate what is tied together on each circuit in the subpanel. For example; in our home, the master closet, a main support wall in the home, and the garage are all on the same circuit. If your chiller, your entertainment center, and the dryer are all the same circuit, it might trip it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 The chiller is on a separate breaker. The tank breaker is flipping. The problem I think is that the entire living room is on the same breaker, lights, fan, tv, ps3 etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Yup. Flip each breaker and mark down(have The Mrs go through every room in the house) what goes off. Put the tank on a circuit that draw low amps/volts to limit the tripping; if possible. For tonight you might be ok as draw will start winding down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 how many amps is the breaker thats blowing? 220 or 110? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizardx322 Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 if you can i would have an electrician do a dedicated breaker for your tank. its about $200 to $400 i i think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I had this same problem when I set up three small tanks in my dinning room. I had the electrician come out and he determined that it was the GFCI that was cutting. Since I have GFCI built into my extension cords, he just took the outlets in the dinning room off of the built in GFCI. Everything runs smooth now. Please note that I described the situation to the best of my ability - I really have no idea how to correctly describe electrical components, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Any more issues? +1 to a dedicated circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 Flipped again today even though I have only my lights and mo40s plugged in. That's only 6 amps!? I called my builder and they said they're gonna come out and replace the breaker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 24, 2012 Author Share Posted September 24, 2012 Ok, After some trial and error, I figured out that the adjacent Breaker is causing the flip. I have a motion sensor on a light upstairs. Whenever this sensor is tripped to turn on the light, the breaker downstairs (adjacent to the bathroom breaker for upstairs) flips! They said that that shouldn't be happening, that the breaker is weak and they're going to replace the breaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 24, 2012 Author Share Posted September 24, 2012 So the flipping had nothing to do with the amount of power being pulled by the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Always fun troubleshooting when the actual problem has nothing at all to do with the symptoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 As pointed out, GFCI and breakers get weak before they fail completely. A 20A breaker cost less than $5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Ok, electrician said that there were some loose wires behind the living room breaker that were touching it and we're causing it to flip. He replaced the breaker and made sure the wires weren't loose anymore. My vortech battery backup got a good test run out of all this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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