GE 20 amp Breaker tripping intermittently

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I had some continous loads at grocerystores that were 17 amps on 20 amp breakers. The breaker temperature could reach 125-130 fahrenheit.
 
hanklazard said:
I had some continous loads at grocerystores that were 17 amps on 20 amp breakers. The breaker temperature could reach 125-130 fahrenheit.
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Clearly NEC violations if #12 THHN/THWN-2 was installed and terminated on 20 amp overcurrent devices.
See 210.19 (A) (1) for conductors and 210.20 (A) for overcurrent devices
 
Rick 0920 said:
Clearly NEC violations if #12 THHN/THWN-2 was installed and terminated on 20 amp overcurrent devices.
See 210.19 (A) (1) for conductors and 210.20 (A) for overcurrent devices
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If I recall correctly it was run with #10. The 20 amp breakers still got hot since they weren't intended for such a high load. The thermal imaging company and insurance flagged it and we upgraded to 25 amp breakers. These panels were in a 2nd floor motor room with very little airflow and as kwired guessed correctly the ambient temperature was always pretty warm. The breakers still got warm but they didn't fail like the 20 amp breakers. I encouraged the customer to install some fans to lower the room temperature but that was ignored.
 
kwired said:
Did they trip or cause adjacent breakers to trip?

Was the panel in high ambient to begin with?
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Bingo it was a in a 2nd floor motor room of a warehouse grocery store where the refigerant motors ran 24 hours a day. The room itself and ambient temperature was high 80-90 degrees. Wouldn't fans and more air circulation help? I suggested this.
 
hanklazard said:
Bingo it was a in a 2nd floor motor room of a warehouse grocery store where the refigerant motors ran 24 hours a day. The room itself and ambient temperature was high 80-90 degrees. Wouldn't fans and more air circulation help? I suggested this.
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80-90 degrees is not too high. Breakers are rated at 40C ambient which is about 104F.
 
ptonsparky said:
"My husband hung that shelf yesterday." made for a very quick find after a brief Q&A.
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The electrician who renovated it last time forgot to disconnect an electrical line that was going outside to nothing. Customer just remembered. We'll know in a few days if that was what the issue was.
 
ValeoBill said:
Breakers "trip" for one of two reasons: they're overloaded or faulty. If you're fairly confident it's going to trip sometime in an eight hour period, put an ammeter that can capture high peak on it. Switching it to another same size breaker and checking if and when it trips may point you in the right direction. Hopefully this will do it. Checking connections on an unmapped circuit won't be fun.
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Why not disconnect it at the first outlet, turn breaker on and see if it holds?
 
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