Info to chew on....

toast master

toast master

Well-Known Member
you can gather the info of your appliances total that load and come to a fairly close load rating for any given use ...
to check a plug ... remove the plastic cover one screw in the middle ... the rating should be right next to the screw hole ... no need to remove the plug just the cover
 
Florida Girl

Florida Girl

Well-Known Member
Thanks TM.. that does help somewhat. I know every room is on it's own switch at the breaker as there is a switch for every room in the house (the bathrooms share switches with the hallways.. upstairs and down).

I think I should be ok adding another 400 watt HPS... and now that it's winter I can probably unplug the portable A/C.
 
toast master

toast master

Well-Known Member
also.. having the load you have now ... total that .. if it is more than 80 % of the brkr that runs that room ... you are heading twards over load... its not just the load at each duplex out let but the total load on the brkr .. even other rooms
 
toast master

toast master

Well-Known Member
i would like to clarify one thing i see alot ... you can run a given load at 100 % for a short period of time .. but over a longer time.. wires start to become hot.. reaching a melting point.. this can hapen inside the walls with out ever knowing it ,this process can occur over & over again till the wire fails... often hot enough to start things on fire and never trip the brkr.....
 
Florida Girl

Florida Girl

Well-Known Member
toast master said:
also.. having the load you have now ... total that .. if it is more than 80 % of the brkr that runs that room ... you are heading twards over load... its not just the load at each duplex out let but the total load on the brkr .. even other rooms
Click to expand...

LOL... thanks.. I'm not a total dummy in the electrical dept.... I've installed a garbage disposal, ceiling fans and other lights and whatnot... I just get lost when it comes to the breaker box and understanding the Big Picture how it all comes together.

My house is only 13 years old so hopefully everything is up to par and I won't burn the place down.

Thanks for the thread.
 
marchold

marchold

Well-Known Member
toast master said:
Recently one of rui members had a close call with a fire in his op...
Click to expand...
I read about that in another thread I was reading. It really got me thinking. I have a few questions about safety details.

1, ELECTRICAL FIRE - Correct me of I am wrong
- This one seems to fall in to the basic category of fires that are started because too much current is flowing through too small of a wire. I have trouble with Amps math so I do this: I assume an outlet should never have more than 1500 watts. I got the 1500w value because a space heater I have used 1500w and it works on a 15amp circuit but barely. Then I add up the watts of all the things going to that outlet and make sure it is less than 1500. If I have more than 500w plugged in to an extension cord I use a big expensive one. Also I touch all electrical cords and make sure they are never hot.

2, EXPLODING BULB
- Today is the first I had heard of this. I did not realize the glass on my hood was actually a safety thing and not just about efficient cooling. I have one of those hoods with 2 6" air ducts. So I was thinking that if my bulb explodes, some of the hot glass would hit the flexible aluminum duct. Maybe I need to replace the duct with one that does not melt or burn?
Also it seems like the fire you were talking about was a bulb on a serge protector. Would a better surge protector have helped?
How about reflective stuff like Mylar and panda plastic do they pose a fire hazard?

Is there a FAQ on fire safety?
 
toast master

toast master

Well-Known Member
hey marchold ... one thing most people do is to forget how much they have plugged into a circuit ... as stated often they dont understand that circuits can operate more than one room .. often several... the total load on the breaker must be considered.... one 1500 w appliance my or may not be ok... 100 % load should never be applied the the brkr... checking ext. cords often is a good rule to follow...
if your ducting is alum. your probably ok... as long as its not that flexible plastic stuff... replacing the duct that comes in to contact with the fixture is a good safety issue to address.. a surge protector will not stop the secondary power from the ballest to the lamp, they mainly are for the primary power to the ballest... i know of no inexpensive secondary power interupter... at least not cheap ones..... bulbs usually explode do to abrupt temp changes....

a good point about products with low fire ratings ... even fire retardent products are not fire proof.. we fill our ops with stuff thats plastic, wood , rubber.. all waiting for the right conditions to let go... as you may know that stuff is teribbly toxic when burning ....
marchold said:
I read about that in another thread I was reading. It really got me thinking. I have a few questions about safety details.

1, ELECTRICAL FIRE - Correct me of I am wrong
- This one seems to fall in to the basic category of fires that are started because too much current is flowing through too small of a wire. I have trouble with Amps math so I do this: I assume an outlet should never have more than 1500 watts. I got the 1500w value because a space heater I have used 1500w and it works on a 15amp circuit but barely. Then I add up the watts of all the things going to that outlet and make sure it is less than 1500. If I have more than 500w plugged in to an extension cord I use a big expensive one. Also I touch all electrical cords and make sure they are never hot.

2, EXPLODING BULB
- Today is the first I had heard of this. I did not realize the glass on my hood was actually a safety thing and not just about efficient cooling. I have one of those hoods with 2 6" air ducts. So I was thinking that if my bulb explodes, some of the hot glass would hit the flexible aluminum duct. Maybe I need to replace the duct with one that does not melt or burn?
Also it seems like the fire you were talking about was a bulb on a serge protector. Would a better surge protector have helped?
How about reflective stuff like Mylar and panda plastic do they pose a fire hazard?

Is there a FAQ on fire safety?
Click to expand...
 
marchold

marchold

Well-Known Member
do you think it is necessary to put fireproof ducting. I have glass on my hood but it has 2 6" holes in it. The holes have that flexible plastic/aluminum ducting, which would melt or burn. It seems like if the light explodes that could be a problem.

For fire risk are there any other things to watch out for other than
1, electrical fire
2, exploding bulb
 
toast master

toast master

Well-Known Member
hey marchold ..... you would probably be better off using a non insulated aluminum flex duct if you can get ... lowes diy ... i personally dont see a big enough savings to use insulated ducting ... unless your traveling longer distances.. wich you should not be doing... so therre is really no benefit to it .... if it can melt ... it usually will...

one thing i have not touched on is water & electricity.... we all use pumps in our tanks,fans & lights hanging over head , if your not carefull you could get a nasty jolt... gfi plugs or brkrs should be used on all appliances.... try not to buy devices that incorperate a gfi into a strip plug ... not that there not good ... the duplex outlet gfi or better the breaker gfi are far superior .... and the brkr gfi covers all the plugs on that circuit ..... never use a frayed cord... cords missing the ground lug .. everyone has torn off those pesky ground lugs to get them into a non grounded outlet.. dont do it ... stay away from addapters also they really dont work....
most modern structures post ww2 .. have grounds in the wireing....never defeat a ground... it is the only thing preventing ELECTRICUTION .....
 
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