14 amps tripping 15 amp breaker??

Hey guys, I'm stumped here, I figured I did all the math correctly before setting things up but I'm getting this circuit tripping once a week or so.

I have a 1000w + 600w on a 15 amp circuit. The dimmable ballasts say they pull 8.4 amps and 5.6 amps respectively. That adds up to 14 amps on the 15 amp circuit...

So why would it trip? I'm 1 amp under and I doubt the extra startup juice exceeds an amp. The first time it tripped it wouldn't happen until both lights were on for 3-4 hours or so...


Now here is the very strange part...Today at 4am (looking at the timers) the breaker tripped. Neither light turns on until 8am...and they only run until midnight. ZERO power is being pulled on that circuit at 4am...

The only thing in the whole house that runs at 4am is a 1100w window a/c unit that turns on/off every 30 minutes. However, this is on its own separate 15 amp circuit...


HELP please!

Induction power perhaps ? (dutch is impendantie)

Not sure thats the right terminology.
Its the power thats needed to kickstart a device.

Like with flurescent lighting, befoore it kicks in, it draws a lot more power.
Same goes for Grow lights VSAs or fan moters, when they are intially started, they draw quite a bit more power then what they regularly use.
Just for a few seconds though.

jacknpurp said:

Hey guys, I'm stumped here, I figured I did all the math correctly before setting things up but I'm getting this circuit tripping once a week or so.I have a 1000w + 600w on a 15 amp circuit. The dimmable ballasts say they pull 8.4 amps and 5.6 amps respectively. That adds up to 14 amps on the 15 amp circuit...So why would it trip? I'm 1 amp under and I doubt the extra startup juice exceeds an amp. The first time it tripped it wouldn't happen until both lights were on for 3-4 hours or so...Now here is the very strange part...Today at 4am (looking at the timers) the breaker tripped. Neither light turns on until 8am...and they only run until midnight. ZERO power is being pulled on that circuit at 4am...The only thing in the whole house that runs at 4am is a 1100w window a/c unit that turns on/off every 30 minutes. However, this is on its own separate 15 amp circuit...HELP please!

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I think I read you can only load the breaker 20% of its max or u can run the risk of it tripping.

Your problem is probably due to running a continuous load. Try and lessen the load on that particular circuit.

Thanks for the quick responses! but how can it trip with nothing being powered...read the second part...

• Now here is the very strange part...Today at 4am (looking at the timers) the breaker tripped. Neither light turns on until 8am...and they only run until midnight. ZERO power is being pulled on that circuit at 4am...
  
  The only thing in the whole house that runs at 4am is a 1100w window a/c unit that turns on/off every 30 minutes. However, this is on its own separate 15 amp circuit...​
  
  
  
  

Sorry for that, somehow I misread, my mistake -,-

Is it a breaker with a ground ?

Couple of things to perhaps check:
Was it raining when it happened ?
Is there somehwere a form of moisture build up ?


Something to keep in mind:
Apparently, its tripped more oftne then you like .... perhaps its damaged by now, tried a replacement ?

@automated-

I'm pretty sure it's grounded, it's the main house panel breaker with like 20 circuits on it. one side has 15 amps, the other 20 amps for the larger electronics in the house. I guess their called circuits, I'm no electrician...

It was raining last night so that could be a possibility I didn't think of...

I've had to reset this particular circuit 3 times now, how many times do they usually last?

jacknpurp said:

Thanks for the quick responses! but how can it trip with nothing being powered...read the second part...

• Now here is the very strange part...Today at 4am (looking at the timers) the breaker tripped. Neither light turns on until 8am...and they only run until midnight. ZERO power is being pulled on that circuit at 4am...
  
  The only thing in the whole house that runs at 4am is a 1100w window a/c unit that turns on/off every 30 minutes. However, this is on its own separate 15 amp circuit...​
  
  
  
  

Click to expand...

Then you have a bigger problem than the load you're putting on the breaker. Without seeing it myself, I couldn't tell you the problem. Sometimes electricity can do some weird things...I've seen things that don't make a bit of sense in my time as an electrician.

I'd tend to agree that the simplest fix would be to try replacing the breaker. If that's not the problem, perhaps you have a device with a short in it. Hard to say really.

I believe ballasts use 20% more power to fire up, then revert back down after the lights are fired up. On a 15 amp line, you shouldn't be using more then 12 amps max. Your setup is a fire waiting to happen. You can have it rewired and thus increase you breaker size or cut back power being used- there isn't much else you can do. Or u can wait til your luck runs out, and your house burns down.

Pulling this much amperage through a single breaker is begging for a fire. I run @ 67% to be conservative, never run more than 80%.

They can die in 1 go, or work for countless of times. Depands on quality of the device, and or the event that made it go off (just image what lightning would do to such a thing).

Anyway, is there no other devices hooked up and working on that particular circuit during the period it tripped ? (vent, fans, humdifier, heating )

This is almost certainly tripping due to heat at the breaker itself due to the very high continuous load... and not specifically because of sudden overload on the circuit.

As others have stated, a circuit should never run past 80% of its maximum load except for very brief spikes (caused by a ballast or motor firing).

-spek

ps. Essentially, the breaker may be preventing your house from burning down.

@SSHZ - thanks for input, looks like I need to get this 600w on a different circuit asap...only problem is there isn't another 15 amp circuit available for 25 ft or so.

Is it safe to run 600w light on a standard orange 25ft long 13amp extension cord? I've read the longer the cord the more power loss, but doesn't seem like a 600w would be too much trouble for it. Although it would be a continuous 16 hour pull...

Nope, no other devices running on that one..so it looks like I'll run a 25ft extension cord for the 600w to run by itself, so then the 1000w will have its own 15 amp circuit as well...

Thanks for the fast help guys!

Another note: House was built in 1996, the main panel has a sticker that says it was inspected in 2006, so hopefully everything is up to date with newer code

The breaker is doing you a favor by tripping. You shouldn't have more than 80% of capacity on any circuit, or 12 amps on a 15 amp breaker. You will degrade the wire which could lead to a fire eventually. The reason the breaker tripped while doing nothing could be after resetting so many time it is shot.. You need to stop using the 600 until you have more power. Sorry, but that is the way it is. Don't fuck with electricity, it will kill you.

jacknpurp said:

Nope, no other devices running on that one..so it looks like I'll run a 25ft extension cord for the 600w to run by itself, so then the 1000w will have its own 15 amp circuit as well...

Thanks for the fast help guys!

Click to expand...

For that run, I would highly recommend a larger gauge extension cord than a typical 18 ga, especially if you plan on adding anything more than just the light on it.

Personally, I'd go all the way up to 14/3 cord to be safe.

-spek

It will be wise to have the breaker checked out though, or in its simplest, replaced.

The others statements are very much true, being close to a breakers max power for prolonged periodes of time degrades the breakers elements to trip it, or, when its already failing, at some point it wont trip anymore, and things will heat up possibly causing a fire.

If the unit has a test option, do a test with it while its actually drawing power.

Also, the induction power of a device can be way more then 1 amp if the main device is already at 8+ amps itself


A note:
please be carefull with electricity; replacing a doubtfull unit worth 20 or so bucks to take preventive measures will be the best investment you ever made if it prevented your house from burning down. But getting yourself electrocuted in the process is not worth it.

Ok, buying two 14 gauge 25ft cords to run one for the 600w light and another for the 1100w window a/c.

I'd like to replace them, but I'm skeptical about an electrician coming to my house and wanting to see what's drawing all this power to have them replaced. I guess I could just have him in the garage only (where the main panel is) to replace the couple breakers that are drawing the most power, and not let him in the house...

I read this other thread here the other day, this dude drilled a hole in his kwh meter, and stuck a needle in ....
he wanted to have it replced, some people mentioned making it look like an accident you hit the breaker with a hammer >_>


(or something alike, a most plausbile reason to have it replaced without making it look like it cos of power draw)

EDIT: you could try breaking of the switch button before a mechanic comes