Breaker tripping

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Alwayslearningelec

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Ok I am here in hot as$ NY where it is about 101degrees. My breaker that has our bedroom stuff(ac too) keeps tripping. This has never happened before. Is the high temps contributing to this and why? Thanks
 
Put a call in to one of your guys with his tools. Is it a window shaker unit ?

It could be a bad breaker connection, compressor going bad, recptacle that

went kapuyy ? Stay cool
 
horsegoer said:
Ok I am here in hot as$ NY where it is about 101degrees. My breaker that has our bedroom stuff(ac too) keeps tripping. This has never happened before. Is the high temps contributing to this and why? Thanks
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Well I am in hotter NC and my breakers are not tripping. Where is the panel located and what environment? Reason being my panel is in laundry room that has A/C so ambient temp. is not a factor. Is the A/C unit continuously running where before it cycled on and off? If the unit is running all the time it could be the breaker is old and weak and now it is showing its self.
 
Thanks guys.... Yeah were on the verge of heat stroke. Going to sisters around the corner

Trying save that $$$$ ... Hope I don't have to call an electrician.

The panel is in the living room. I thought ambient temp played a part in wiring/circuits.... But your saying the heat should have no effect on the tripping of the breakers?? Thanks again
 
Could be a breaker going bad or loose connections. Also the utility could be feeding you a lower then normal voltage due to the high heat and excessive consumption in the area. Thus increasing your amp draw on individual circuits in your house.
 
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horsegoer said:
Thanks guys.... Yeah were on the verge of heat stroke. Going to sisters around the corner

Trying save that $$$$ ... Hope I don't have to call an electrician.

The panel is in the living room. I thought ambient temp played a part in wiring/circuits.... But your saying the heat should have no effect on the tripping of the breakers?? Thanks again
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No, I am not saying that at all. If the panel were located in a location where the ambient temp. is high then it could have an effect on the breakers. What you did not provide was the amp rating of the breaker, amp draw and age of the A/C unit.
It could be the continuous running has maxed out the breaker especially if the breaker has some age on it and there could be some connections that are loose.
 
horsegoer said:
Ok I am here in hot as$ NY where it is about 101degrees. My breaker that has our bedroom stuff(ac too) keeps tripping. This has never happened before. Is the high temps contributing to this and why? Thanks
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What size circuit are we talking about, 15-20 Amp? What size AC ( current draw) is the AC unit? AC unit is probably the biggest load and then just start adding up what else is on that circuit.

A lot of older homes actually had the bathroom receptacle on the bedroom circuit and if you add a hair dryer and an AC unit it's not good.
 
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Oh, I didn't realize that this was not common knowledge, because I just said the same thing in another thread 30 seconds ago.

Thermo-magnetic circuit breakers react to both high current and temperature. The breaker doesn't know whether that heat is coming from the circuit or from the ambient conditions around the breaker. It will trip on thermal overload when its temperature reaches its threshold, regardless whether the temp is from the circuit or not.

In a hot environment, a circuit breaker will trip at a much lower amperage level than it is actually rated for.
 
Had a problem like this once when outside temps was over 100?F
We found that everytime a door was opened or an exaust fan was running it would draw the outside air into the panel and heat it up, we sealed the conduit coming in from the meter and the problem went away, another reason for 300.7;)
 
40?C that is marked on the breaker means that is the ambient temperature that it is calibrated for. That is 104?F. If panel is not outdoors in the sun, ambient temperature is likely not much of a factor.
 
During periods of high heat, many larger metropolitan utilities cannot maintain voltage levels. The lower voltage can cause motors to draw more current than they normally do. Brownouts, severe voltage drops, can damage equipment.
 
kwired said:
40?C that is marked on the breaker means that is the ambient temperature that it is calibrated for. That is 104?F. If panel is not outdoors in the sun, ambient temperature is likely not much of a factor.
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Agreed. While the ambeient tempature will have an effect on a thermal breaker, it is a minor diference. I would suspect lower voltages (Droop) from the utility to be a bigger factor.
 
horsegoer said:
Ok I am here in hot as$ NY where it is about 101degrees. My breaker that has our bedroom stuff(ac too) keeps tripping. This has never happened before. Is the high temps contributing to this and why? Thanks
Click to expand...

There are quite a few good ideas you could be checking, voltage, current draw, temperature at the breaker if possible, termination torque value. What type of breaker (manufacturer) is it. Let us know what you find.
 
Just got home earlier... No tripping yet and cooler today. I will get back on breaker info .... Thanks a lot everyone for the help
 
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