How many amps does the Tannis heater pull? We are having trouble with tripping breakers
Thanks
Gaynor blake
6 x 50 Watt elements = 300 watts (there is a 100 watt element available)
Plus 1 x 50 or 100 watt oil sump heater = 400 watts max
400 watts /120 volts = 3.3 amps
WATTS/VOLTS=AMPS
If the breaker keeps tripping you might have a dead short somewhere.
You do not say if the breaker trips immediately or after some longer period of time elaps after applying the load. It would be helpful to know that. Is the breaker a Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI) variety? It doesn’t take much of a fault to trip a GFI.
In reply to:
6 x 50 Watt elements = 300 watts (there is a 100 watt element available)
Plus 1 x 50 or 100 watt oil sump heater = 400 watts max
400 watts /120 volts = 3.3 amps
WATTS/VOLTS=AMPS
If the breaker keeps tripping you might have a dead short somewhere.
Well… sort of. The “cold load” may be higher - potentially [;)] much higher. Most resistive electrical loads (such as heating elements) increase their resistance as they heat up - they have a “Positive Temperature Coefficient”; the quoted power rating usually refers to the HOT condition. If the breaker generally trips on initial connection of the system, the “cold load” may be high enough to push a breaker over its limit. If the breaker trips some time later, then the absolute load may be the issue. Obviously, look for other things on the circuit that may be causing mischief - inductive loads (like refrigerator and air compressor motors) present even higher “spike” loads on startup.
- Mike.
Looks like I’m will have to borrow the amprobe from work. It is tripping a new 15 amp breaker, more easily when cold, but sometimes when not so cold. Nothing else is on the breaker that I know of.
Thanks,
Gaynor
In reply to:
Looks like I’m will have to borrow the amprobe from work. It is tripping a new 15 amp breaker, more easily when cold, but sometimes when not so cold. Nothing else is on the breaker that I know of.
Thanks,
Gaynor
The time constant of a heating element is pretty fast. I not familiar with your Amprobe. Is it fast enough to track the intial current? Probably not. You really need a storage scope with a current probe to get accurate results.
I believe most circuit breakers will withstand a certain amount of “inrush” or higher “start up” currents.
Walt
In reply to:
Looks like I’m will have to borrow the amprobe from work. It is tripping a new 15 amp breaker, more easily when cold, but sometimes when not so cold. Nothing else is on the breaker that I know of.
Thanks,
Gaynor
Gaynor:
Defective breaker is a likely possibility. Even new, it may be defective. Easy to check: just plug in a electric space heater and see if it trips on that load.
BTW: out here in California we generally use 15 amp for fixtures and 20 amps for outlets. 20 amp will require 12 gauge wire.
This is a slow trip, not inrush. It takes from a minute to 10 minutes to trip. Also IIRC resistive loads do not have much of an inrush as compared to inductive loads. The Amprobe should work I think.
Thanks!
Gaynor
In reply to:
This is a slow trip, not inrush. It takes from a minute to 10 minutes to trip. Also IIRC resistive loads do not have much of an inrush as compared to inductive loads. The Amprobe should work I think.
Thanks!Gaynor
1 to 10 minutes is steady state in your case, so yes the Amprobe should tell you whether it’s too much current or a faulty breaker.
Keep us posted.
Walt
Mystery solved. A small amount of leakage current was tripping the GFI. A standard breaker has no problem. Thanks for the inputs.
Gaynor