breaker tripping Al. wire

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JDB3

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San Antonio, Texas
Went on a service call where bedroom breaker was tripping.

Had to have them move furniture to even look at the receptacles. Wired in 10/2 w/g Al. Wiring looks good & professional job. Checked the 3 receptacles in the bedroom, just found wire wrapped around one screw that I was able to get a 1/4 turn on, all the rest were good & snug. No signs of any arcing, neutral wires (on wire nuts) in switch boxes looked good also.

Just the 3 receptacles & 1 ceiling fan in the bedroom. One light in utility room & 2 lights in garage on this circuit. Two receptacles in garage that were added later (had copper wire to them) also on this circuit (don't know where they were tied into the circuit from).

Reset the breaker, after 10 minutes or so, breaker trips (just had one light on). Replaced the breaker (original one, perhaps 40 years old, thin line GE).

Any thoughts?? :?
 
JDB3 said:
Just the 3 receptacles & 1 ceiling fan in the bedroom. One light in utility room & 2 lights in garage on this circuit. Two receptacles in garage that were added later (had copper wire to them) also on this circuit (don't know where they were tied into the circuit from).

Reset the breaker, after 10 minutes or so, breaker trips (just had one light on). Replaced the breaker (original one, perhaps 40 years old, thin line GE).

Any thoughts?? :?
Click to expand...


You may have a short in the circuit but you need to trouble-shoot. I would guess that this is a 20 Amp breaker so what is the actual load ( ammeter measured)?

You may have a load on the circuit you don't even know about. Once you know what the actual load is on the circuit you can disconnect part of the circuit and see how much it changes.

I would say you have a short circuit or an unknown load. But if you don't know where they tied in the wire for the garage then they may have tied in other loads. I would look for the junction box where they tied in the garage, probably AL to CU under a wire nut ( and smoked).
 
Call this morning that it tripped again. Had replaced breaker (per owners request that it might be weak).

Trying to find the place where "apparently" someone had tied into the original circuit & added the 2 outlets in the garage. I am not a nimble as use to be to be crawling in attic.

Any suggestions about how to "tie" onto the existing 10/2 w/g Al. wire with copper wire ??
 
Clean connections and noalox, make sure all wire nuts are approved for aluminum and if al/cu connection is found, make sure they are cleaned as well. Meg the circuit to make sure you don't have a fault somewhere...
 
}}They make options for cu to al connections. Are you wanting options how to do it properly or how it was most likely done? {{

They asked for an WP receptacle to be added in front of the house. Panel is full. Would have desired to come from an existing receptacle in the house. Small metal boxes were used originally, so there is little space to no space to spare.

I suspect that the added items were just under a wire nut, somewhere.
 
JDB3 said:
}}They make options for cu to al connections. Are you wanting options how to do it properly or how it was most likely done? {{

They asked for an WP receptacle to be added in front of the house. Panel is full. Would have desired to come from an existing receptacle in the house. Small metal boxes were used originally, so there is little space to no space to spare.

I suspect that the added items were just under a wire nut, somewhere.
Click to expand...

You still can tap off of an existing receptacle. When the box is too small replace it with a new fiberglass or plastic box. They will have more cubic inches than the old metal ones.

Finding the problem is your first priority.
 
breaker

breaker

It sounds like a bad motor or water getting into a outlet outside.
 
}}It sounds like a bad motor or water getting into a outlet outside. {{

The switch to the fan is off (need to verify though), & all receptacles & switches inside the house. Thanks
 
}}You still can tap off of an existing receptacle. When the box is too small replace it with a new fiberglass or plastic box. They will have more cubic inches than the old metal ones.{{

I could connect the new receptacle to the screws of the existing one, but, I can not connect the ground wire .

Good thought though.
 
If you've got a delayed trip that doesn't go away when a new breaker is installed it's because the breaker is interrupting an overload.

You can't troubleshoot and overload by guessing. Get an ammeter, see what you're drawing, start dividing the circuit until you find where that current draw is coming from.

You can get a piece of junk amp-clamp from Home Depot for $40 and it will work well enough to solve this problem.
 
Thanks one & all. I messed up & just took the owners word that "everything else" was working, therefore not even thinking in terms of an overload.

A brother-in-law, had done some additional wiring on his house. So perhaps had also done some on this one. :slaphead:
 
Also Consider using the Alimiconn connectors and use the torque screwdriver. The are the only accepted connector by many insurance companies other than the old TYCO standard that you need to rent their special tool for.

If the house burns down and you used just nolox and a regular wire-nut you could be in for problems. At the minimum use a listed connector or device.
 
}}To bad they dont cal the BIL back when things quit working. {{

Unfortunately the brother-in-law passed away 6 years ago. I meet his wife a few weeks ago, when she was having trouble a her house. Nothing he had done, just 30+ years caught up with some of the wiring.

Yes, if I had known about the al. wiring, I would have tried not to go. Hard to find listed items for it now.

Does anyone know if they make listed Tamper Resistant Cu/Al devices? :?
 
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