Breaker keeps tripping

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Mrr211

Mrr211

Member
Aug 24, 2013
56
Massachusetts
Hi all,
Had my stove( Quad Classic Bay new)since October with no breaker issues. Within the last week or so my breaker that the stove is on will periodically trip. Happened twice last week during the frigid weather. Then last night it happened a few times as well. I have an older home and the outlet for the stove is on the same circuit as my daughters room. Basically the only thing going in the room is a baby monitor, sound machine, and a 1500w fan forced heater. Is this just too much of a load?
I didn't have the problem Oct-Dec so it's just very strange.
I am not good w electricity etc so if there isn't a basic check I'll prob have to call in an electrician. Any thoughts? Could my stove have developed a problem causing this?
Thanks for any help.
 
How big is the circuit breaker? If it's a 15 amp circuit the combined load of 1500W heater, stove, and other vampire loads may be more than the circuit can handle.
 
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jackman said:
How big is the circuit breaker? If it's a 15 amp circuit the combined load of 1500W heater, stove, and other vampire loads may be more than the circuit can handle.
Click to expand...
 
I'm not sure off hand, I am at work. But if it were the circuit wouldn't it have been doing it all along?
 
1500W heaters should never be used on a 15A breaker. Breakers are designed that they will trip on an 80% load after a period of time. It may take several hours for the breaker to heat up, but it will trip eventually. Electric heaters are best used on a dedicated circuit. Move the heater onto another circuit or get a smaller heater. If you can run the heater on a lower setting, this may work as the heater will not be drawing 1500W.
 
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If you are within amperage limits and it still trips. It may be due to age of breaker you said you had older house. A breaker is a switch that may have tripped multi times in years before your ownership. Cheap easy to replace with new breaker.
 
basic electrical

P(power in watts) = E(volts) x I(current in amps)
1500 =120 x I
I = 1500/120

= 12.5amps

that's the draw of the fan forced heater... if you're on a 15amp breaker (and sometimes older breakers trip sooner than what they're rated at) you're pretty well maxxed out and need to distribute your "appliances" to other outlets
 
You should add up all the loads on that breaker and determine the total draw. There could be a lot of reasons why it hasn't happened in the past. Of course, the most obvious reason is that something else has been plugged in since you last looked. I'd recommend you check for the obvious things first.
 
Get a oil filled radiator that has low/med/high usually 600/900/1500w. Set it on low. 1500w space heaters should not be run on a 15amp breaker at least not for any duration. Your lucky the breaker is tripping.
 
Thank you all for the responses. This is the fan http://www.amazon.com/Pelonis-HF-00...qid=1389574927&sr=8-1&keywords=pelonis+heater.

I realize that too much of a load could be causing the trip. I used the heater last year as well. This year though with the recent frigid cold blast my wife decided to turn the unit setting to med vs low like we usually had. I'm betting this 900W load rather than the 600W setting was enough to cause the tripping. I'm going to make sure it goes back down to low.

As for other items on that circuit, it's a baby monitor, baby sound machine, and one small night light, and then just the pellet stove. I don't know why this outlet is on the same circuit but it is.

I have a ranch and the baby's room is through a doorway and down a small hall(we keep her door closed when she goes to bed), so we have to run a heater or the room gets too cold.

Thanks for the tips. I will check the Amp rating on the circuit but im guessing its the standard 15 amp. The electrical was redone when we bought the house 2 1/2 years ago so it's not very old. We thought of a ceramic heater as well or oil radiator but they all had about the same wattage. The room is a decent size bedroom so we need something in there.

Thanks again.
 
You may want to pick up a new breaker and install it. Breakers that have been overloaded several times, may become weak and need to be replaced.
 
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