american dj power bar circuit breaker tripping

[BlueTang<3]

so i have a 8 outlet power bar and it was fine for about 4 months and recently it will randomly trip which baffles me i have reduced power consumption considerably i dropped down over 500 watts in consumption with a skimmer and pump smaller heater upgrade and never had a problem before correct me if i am wrong i know the breaker is in amperage but would less wattage = less amperage ??

[Funky_Fish14]

Less wattage should equal less amps overall. Definetly with a decrease of 500 watts. If it was only a 50w decrease then you could easily have an increase in voltage which would cause no change in wattage but in this case it should definetly be down.

Is something leaking stray voltage or suddenly drawing alot of power? Or maybe something else in the house is doing it, and sucking a lot of power from the house (IE: an A/C unit, not that this time of year ofcourse but I mean it sucks a lot of juice).

Cheers,

Chris

[BlueTang<3]

it is a breaker on the power bar so it is from the fish tank i am going to have to run two power bars i guess

[Funky_Fish14]

I know what you mean/how it works.

Im suggesting that a power draw increase somewhere else in the house is decreasing the temporarily available power to the power bar, which could be causing the power bar's breaker to think there is too much being drawn from a presumed 15Amp circuit, and thus tripping the breaker? Electrical things do weird stuff. IE: AFCI breakers (the new style required to be installed in bedrooms) are more likely to trip than standard breakers after a power outage (according to the electrical inspectors out here), and also they tend to not be compatible with GFI sockets. It has nothing to do with the power draw from them.

Cheers,

Chris

[BlueTang<3]

weird i guess it could be that i just find it funny the furnace could be the culpert it has not stopped running the past few days lol dam cold weather

[Funky_Fish14]

Hmm, lol.

I really dont know what to suggest or look for. Its possible the unit is being faulty as well? A standard 15 amp circuit should be able to handle, if I remember correctly, either 1650W or 1850W or something, so I presume you should be able to dangle almost that off the power bar because most DJ powerbars come with a 15A breaker? Mine (Chauvet units) do anyways.

Someone with more electrical knowledge will chime in im sure :)

Cheers,

Chris

[lastlight]

They're rated for 1850W. Maybe test the equipment to see exactly how much juice they're actually using?

[Binare]

I take it you have ruled out any faulty devices? Breakers do get tired. The more they trip, the less it takes for them to trip. A breakers a bimetallic strip. Two pieces of different metal sandwiched together. They both expand at differing rates in reaction to heat. When you draw current, you create heat, the strip curls and basically flips a switch. Overtime that strip will wear out and become weaker from tripping, or using the breaker as an on/off switch. As an electrician, I'd check for current draw, check for faulty equipment, and lastly... Replace the breaker.

[andestang]

Hmmm, I was wondering about this, I have some heated auto-water units for our horses and they seem to be tripping the breaker fairly easily this year. The guy at HD said no wouldn't happen :confused:


I take it you have ruled out any faulty devices? Breakers do get tired. The more they trip, the less it takes for them to trip. A breakers a bimetallic strip. Two pieces of different metal sandwiched together. They both expand at differing rates in reaction to heat. When you draw current, you create heat, the strip curls and basically flips a switch. Overtime that strip will wear out and become weaker from tripping, or using the breaker as an on/off switch.

[Binare]

Floor staff in any store are not reliable sources for advice, the people that install and use the product or service on a daily basis are the ones who will know best. Regarding your horses, it might be the GFCI tripping. Please tell me those heaters are on GFCIs hehe ;) anything and everything todo with water and livestock should be on GFCIs, its a no brainer.