Circut breakers??????

Question

My landlord hired an electrician to replace the old fuse boxes with circut breakers. The problem is the electricity keeps shutting off, (about 4 times a week this happens if not more) mostly when I use the microwave in the kitchen or blow dry my hair in the bedroom thats on the other side of the apartment. He replaced the 15 with a 20 and it's still doing it. I asked him to use a 30 but he said it was illegal. What can I do??? I'm getting tired of this. I never had this problem with the fuse box.

Answer 1

it looks like you are having a overload problem, there's a lot and i mean a alot of outlets and lights attached to one circuit breaker , try and have the landlord to bring an electrician to do a amp check this could be done with a clamp voltmeter, it should not read more than 75% of the max rated for that breaker, if it does then it is an overload problem. there is a two part fix for this problem if it is an old construction most likely they used 14 ga wire and that size of wire can only handle a 15 amp breaker, now for microwaves and hair dryers that use heat elements that size of wire and braker it's just not enough, so the solution is to upsize the wire to a 12 ga size and use a 20 amp breaker

Answer 2

The circuit breakers are doing their job. Adding a bigger circuit breaker is only a temporary fix. The problem is in the load that circuit has. I use to always blow one circuit in my old house when I turned on the vacuum cleaner, and if there were several lights on. When the breaker tripped, over half of the lights went out. The microwave and the hairdryer are high wattage drawing devices, the less competition for the power the better. Tell your landlord to call the electrician about the problem. He should know how to fix it.

Answer 3

Sounds like you need the landlord to have the electrician install an additional separate circuit for your living area.

The fuses that were in before may have been too high an amperage rating for the gage of wiring they were supposed to protect. That's why building codes and insurance companies insist that fuses be replaced with breakers. They are too easy to circumvent.

Answer 4

It sounds like either the old fuses were too high of an amperage, or the new ones are rated less than the old fuse box.
I wouldnt change the circuit breaker on my own, because you could be liable if a fire or something happens....ask him to have an electrician look at it, and if he does nothing, move at the end of the lease.

Answer 5

The busses need to be split. There is too much load on the buss. If the landlord won't fix it, call the fire marshal and have him do an inspection.

Answer 6

This could be a problem with the earth connection, not with the breaker rating.. check that first.

Answer 7

it very well could be a problem with your recp. the one in your bathroom should ba a g.f.i