Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

Can someone define what the "trip amps" on a breaker means? I have a
20A breaker that has a Trip Amps of 27A. I'm running a breaker right
at 20A and it's tripping after several minutes. I just increased it
to a 25A breaker, but I'd like to understand what "trip amps" means.

-- Geoff

Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

GeoffSchultz wrote:
Can someone define what the "trip amps" on a breaker means? I have a
20A breaker that has a Trip Amps of 27A. I'm running a breaker right
at 20A and it's tripping after several minutes. I just increased it
to a 25A breaker, but I'd like to understand what "trip amps" means.

-- Geoff

Hello Geoff,

As you've found out, common circuit breakers are not precision devices.
The current at which a breaker will trip seems to be a function of age,
time, number of switch cycles, manufacturing tolerances, etc. Seems to
usually work out ok, though.

Generally, a 20 Amp breaker will not trip at 20 Amps, at least not
immediately. They are tested at 135% and 200% of rated capacity. So the
27 Amps works out to be 135% of 20 Amps. This is sometimes called a
"must trip" rating, which, in practice, is a must trip if you cross your
fingers thing. After all, do you know anybody who has ever tested one?

Hope that helps.

Good luck.

Chuck

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Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

I just increased it to a 25A breaker,

Which the circuit's wiring will still support, right?

Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

"Bill Kearney" wkearney-99@hot-mail-com wrote in
:

I just increased it to a 25A breaker,

Which the circuit's wiring will still support, right?


You mean the #14 it's wired with may be too small?

Why is it, in a boat or car, it's ok to fuse or breaker #16 wire at 30A on
a 12V DC circuit, but not on the AC circuit? That has never ceased to
amaze me.... They melt the same.


Larry
--

Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

Larry wrote:
snip
You mean the #14 it's wired with may be too small?

Why is it, in a boat or car, it's ok to fuse or breaker #16 wire at 30A on
a 12V DC circuit, but not on the AC circuit? That has never ceased to
amaze me.... They melt the same.

Larry

The electrons in an AC circuit are like a Chinese or Italian fire drill
compared the electrons in a DC circuit. They keep rushing back and
forth from one end to the other and generating a lot of extra heat.

DC circuits are like German fire drills. All the electrons are moving
in an orderly flow from one end to other so you can have about two or
three times as many participants.

Yep, that's it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)

Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

"Jack Erbes" wrote in message
...
The electrons in an AC circuit are like a Chinese or Italian fire drill
compared the electrons in a DC circuit. They keep rushing back and
forth from one end to the other and generating a lot of extra heat.

DC circuits are like German fire drills. All the electrons are moving
in an orderly flow from one end to other so you can have about two or
three times as many participants.

Yep, that's it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

And your switches work by pressing hard on the wire until no electron can
pass anymore, right?

Meindert

Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

On Mar 7, 11:34 pm, "Bill Kearney" wkearney-99@hot-mail-com wrote:
I just increased it to a 25A breaker,

Which the circuit's wiring will still support, right?

It 10 AWG wire. The 20A circuit breaker is a new breaker and I
suspect that it's defective. I'm going to return it.

-- Geoff

Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

Meindert Sprang wrote:
"Jack Erbes" wrote in message
...
The electrons in an AC circuit are like a Chinese or Italian fire drill
compared the electrons in a DC circuit. They keep rushing back and
forth from one end to the other and generating a lot of extra heat.

DC circuits are like German fire drills. All the electrons are moving
in an orderly flow from one end to other so you can have about two or
three times as many participants.

Yep, that's it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

And your switches work by pressing hard on the wire until no electron can
pass anymore, right?

Meindert

Right! Hey, I need some technical help while you're here. I
accidentally let the smoke out of some of my wiring, how can I put that
back? :)

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at adelphia dot net)
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)

Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

chuck wrote:
:GeoffSchultz wrote:
: Can someone define what the "trip amps" on a breaker means? I have a
: 20A breaker that has a Trip Amps of 27A. I'm running a breaker right
: at 20A and it's tripping after several minutes. I just increased it
: to a 25A breaker, but I'd like to understand what "trip amps" means.
:
: -- Geoff
:
:Hello Geoff,

:As you've found out, common circuit breakers are not precision devices.
:The current at which a breaker will trip seems to be a function of age,
:time, number of switch cycles, manufacturing tolerances, etc. Seems to
:usually work out ok, though.

:Generally, a 20 Amp breaker will not trip at 20 Amps, at least not
:immediately. They are tested at 135% and 200% of rated capacity. So the
:27 Amps works out to be 135% of 20 Amps. This is sometimes called a
:"must trip" rating, which, in practice, is a must trip if you cross your
:fingers thing. After all, do you know anybody who has ever tested one?

Many circuit breakers have two tripping method. There's a magnetic
breaker that trips nearly instantly on large overcurrent. Then
there's a thermal breaker that will trip on smaller overload, but not
instantly. That allows for starting motors and the like.

Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

"Jack Erbes" wrote in message
...
Right! Hey, I need some technical help while you're here. I
accidentally let the smoke out of some of my wiring, how can I put that
back? :)

Unscrew the other end and suck on it hard. Or maybe reversing the polarity
might help. I hope it wasn't AC?

Meindert

Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

"GeoffSchultz" wrote in
ps.com:

It 10 AWG wire. The 20A circuit breaker is a new breaker and I
suspect that it's defective. I'm going to return it.

-- Geoff




Bored to tears on a slow day, I pulled through the junk box at Waste
Marine, Charleston, this afternoon. In the junk, I found TWO 25A circuit
breakers that plug into a 3AG clip. THEY WERE 48 CENTS EACH, in the
original bubble pack! Best deal I ever got at Waste Marine....

Does anyone have an HP Ipaq PDA? On the bargain shelf by the register,
there was a brand new Maptech software package bundled with a GPS
receiver that you plug an Ipaq PDA (several models) into to make a chart
plotter/navigator out of the PDA. It was marked down from $349 to $30!

Helluva deal for someone with an Ipaq.....(c;

Larry
--
How much price inflation is caused by illegal
aliens gobbling up goods and services, creating
shortages for the natives? I heard 40%!

Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

On 7 Mar 2007 16:48:09 -0800, "GeoffSchultz"
wrote:

Can someone define what the "trip amps" on a breaker means? I have a
20A breaker that has a Trip Amps of 27A. I'm running a breaker right
at 20A and it's tripping after several minutes. I just increased it
to a 25A breaker, but I'd like to understand what "trip amps" means.

It's not a good idea to run a breaker at maximum current for any
length of time. Sooner or later they will trip out as you have
discovered. Breakers that have tripped frequently tend to age in my
experience and begin to trip below their rating at some point.

With #10 wire you should be fine with a 25 amp breaker.

Circuit Breaker Trip Amps
 

It looks like everyone posting here is pretty knowledgeable... And,
remember the breaker is there to protect the wire from overheating, it
is not intended to protect the electronic device on the end of the
wire - and it won't...
For those reading who may want a bit more information go to ...

http://tinyurl.com/3bgh7e

It is not just the voltage and current but also the length of the wire
run...

denny
MV Levitation