Do you test your breakers?

[grsthegreat]

Anyone who does not think there is a difference in QO breakers is mistaken. I have 3 panels here full of them, and they are without a doubt, more sensitive than anything else I have come across.

You may not notice the difference unless you inadvertently find a way to test them, as I did. I have a hand grinder that uses 1800 watts @ 115 vac. I have plugged this grinder into 20 amp circuits on boxes with; Cutler-Hammer, GE, Siemens, Bryant, and Homeline, breakers. And it does not trip them. I have also used it on jobs with FP breakers, but since lightning won't trip them, it wouldn't matter. However, on a 20 amp QO breaker, it will trip almost every time on start up, due to the surge. The same thing happens with all my other high current items like my big radial arm saw.

I went to QO hy-mag breakers on these circuits at home, which are made to buffer this out, (they work great). And, I carry one with me if I need to install it in someones QO panel. Luckily for me, but not them, not many people have them around here.

They are a great breaker, but so $$$ that no one wants to use them in new consturction. Almost 2x the price of others.

 

[BobRip]

Now I am tempted to install a GFCI breaker on my attic fans. That's pretty easy. Is it enough? I am tempted to also put a separate fuse on each fan. I have four. Any thoughts on this?

 

[ducks13]

If I were going to be changing out breakers to make my home safer from electrical fires I would be using arc-fault breakers, not gfci's. That is what current code requires in most areas of the house. GFCI's purpose is to prevent electrocution.

Fuses might be good supplementary overcurrent portection for you fans. If you size them close enough to the actual load the do fairly well on overloads I believe.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

You shouldn't need fuses really with the breakers inline.

 

[grsthegreat]

don't get me started with ark fault breakers. they are going to be the downfall of civilization as i know it.

The ones i put in bedrooms trip constantly....doesnt matter the brand. If you get some static build up from your carpet and happen to ground out on the coverplate screw of the switch...bammo, your in the dark. Ive actually had some clients threaten to sue me if i wouldn't get rid of those breakers. I had to get a letter from state inspector forbidding me from their removal to placate these people.

Come next January nearly the entire house has to be ark fault protected...so wo behold everyone. Plus 30 breakers at $40/each will add aprox $1,200 to the wiring cost of the houses i generally wire. Waste

 

[BobRip]

If I were going to be changing out breakers to make my home safer from electrical fires I would be using arc-fault breakers, not gfci's. That is what current code requires in most areas of the house. GFCI's purpose is to prevent electrocution.

Fuses might be good supplementary overcurrent portection for you fans. If you size them close enough to the actual load the do fairly well on overloads I believe.

Sizing the fuses close to fan rated current was my thought. As stated before circuit breakers are sized to protect house wiring against fire. I am not sure arc fault would be better here, but would not hurt. If I used a 5 amp slow blow fuse on each fan, which is rated at four amps, I think that would be optimal. Am I being too paranoid?

 

[BobRip]

You shouldn't need fuses really with the breakers inline.

Why do you think a 20 amp breaker will protect a 4 amp fan?

 

[BobRip]

don't get me started with ark fault breakers. they are going to be the downfall of civilization as i know it.

The ones i put in bedrooms trip constantly....doesnt matter the brand. If you get some static build up from your carpet and happen to ground out on the coverplate screw of the switch...bammo, your in the dark. Ive actually had some clients threaten to sue me if i wouldn't get rid of those breakers. I had to get a letter from state inspector forbidding me from their removal to placate these people.

Come next January nearly the entire house has to be ark fault protected...so wo behold everyone. Plus 30 breakers at $40/each will add aprox $1,200 to the wiring cost of the houses i generally wire. Waste

I have no experience with these. It does not sound good. From theory these are electrical noise detectors. Static is electrical noise, so your comments make sense. GFCI it is.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Are you going to fuse every cotton picking item on a circuit because it's on a 15 or 20 amp breaker? If the fan shorts it trips the breaker. That's if it shorts enough to pull the breaker all by itself. If any other load on that branch is on at the same time you are getting closer to the trip point..Some of those fans already have thermal shutouts on them.

 

[BobRip]

Are you going to fuse every cotton picking item on a circuit because it's on a 15 or 20 amp breaker? If the fan shorts it trips the breaker. That's if it shorts enough to pull the breaker all by itself. If any other load on that branch is on at the same time you are getting closer to the trip point..Some of those fans already have thermal shutouts on them.

Good Point. I have thought of the absurdity myself. The fans appear to have thermal overloads. Most devices today have internal fuses. In the past they did not. My concern with the fans is that they run unsupervised. The bearings could go bad and I might not notice. All of the other equipment I can hear, see, and smell. Yes I am paranoid, but am I paranoid enough? I am still open to suggestions. The fact that a fire department saw two fires in a year scares me. I could just do the GFCI and go with 15 amp ones. The fans are the only thing on the breakers. I over wired this house when I built it.

The code changes all the time. Most code changes are driven by some issue. Have we found and solved all of these issues? Probably not. Anyway yours and others suggestions are appreciated.