Nelson Waterers Tripping Breaker - HELP!

Status
Not open for further replies.

nthakur875

New User
Location
Van Buren, Ohio
Occupation
Horse Ranch
Hello all!

Background:

We have 4 pastures, each with their own Free Standing 16" Nelson Waterer (700 series). This makes 4 free standing waterers. All are hooked up to water and electrical to our main horse barn. For ease of reference the 4 pastures will be referred to as Pastures: A, B, C, and D. (All hardware, new and old, has been ordered directly from Nelson)

Pastures A, B and C are on the North side of our property, and are roughly, 50, 150, and 350 ft (respectively) from the barn where the electrical runs to. Additionally, they are all on the same circuit, a single 15 amp breaker. Pasture D (The south side of the property) is roughly 500ft from the barn, and is also on it's own 15amp breaker.

We are experiencing random breaker tripping from the Pasture A,B,C, breaker.

We have had an electrician out to look at it, several times, and he has done the following:
  • Changed all 4 heating elements/junction (handy) boxes/thermostats. (with brand new hardware).
  • Replaced both breakers, to new 15amp breakers. (Non-GFCI)
  • Did a "line trace" on each to confirm that the waterers are the only things on their respective circuits. (I'm skeptical about this...)
  • Ensured all wires in the electrical box have good contact, good copper, and are in good condition.

After speaking with Dave, at Nelson, he said that it is usually a GFCI issue. (This is not the case with ours, since there are no GFCIs). He also assured us that the plumbing to the units (its old, and definitely could use replacing) is "almost assuredly" not causing the tripping. (I'm skeptical of this too)

The electrician isn't worth much... (its hard to find good people now-a-days)...My electrical knowledge is limited, but not nothing. And I'm damn handy, well-read, and well-researched.

I don't know what to do, or what to check. And we are at a loss.

We have been operating these waterers for the past 8 years, without this issue in the past. We have kept up pretty well on replacing worn parts (with the exception of the plumbing for the valves and such...)

And it makes me think to disconnect all power lines, and pull new ones through at a lower gauge wire. (I'm not sure what gauge the waterers are on, but the wire going into the box looks to be 12g) This would NOT be ideal... as it would be highly costly, and I don't know if bigger wire would fit in the conduit..

Could it be a wire gauge issue? (How could this be, if we hadn't experienced this in the past...almost decade?)
Could something have happened underground, that we don't see? (if so, how do we check this...((without tearing up the ground)) )

Please help with any suggestions. Thank you!
 
While we all understand skilled help is hard to find this is not a DIY forum. Forum rules prohibit us from assisting a person to perform or assist others to do electrical work. The reason is that the forum’s owner does not want a person to get an answer to the question they asked, but not get answers to the other questions they should have asked and were unaware they needed to ask. Mike Holt Enterprises and the Moderators of this Forum do not wish to place you and your family in danger, by allowing others to give you too little information to ensure that the installation is safe. Mike doesn’t want anyone to get injured by any incidents related to electrical installations. But he also doesn’t want to be sued by the injured party’s relatives on the basis of him not telling you enough to keep you safe.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top