Electricians! Does house current amperage matter to the output of a 15 amp heater?

Question

I'm operating a carpet cleaning machine that has an onboard heater. That heater is rated 15 amps. It SEEMS to operate in a cyclical fashion; only heating enough to maintain a certain temperature.

Sometimes I use the machine and the water is hotter than normal. As a carpet cleaner, naturally I want the hottest water possible.

Question: Does the amperage of the house current (15 or 20 or 30) make a difference to the heating element and the heat of the water it puts out? We're currently under the illusion that the higher the house current in amps, the hotter the water gets. This doesn't seem right...?

Answer 1

The amperage is the amount of current that an appliance uses, not what the house supplies.

A circuit will supply all of the current that an appliance needs up to the rated capacity of the circuit that is delivering it. The current supplied is determined by the circuit breaker \, or fuse in the distribution panel. This in turn is limited by the size of the wire of the circuit, & the total distance from the supply panel.

The water temperature is most likely determined by a temperature control dial, or is preset by the carpet cleaning machine manufacturer.

Since the water you put into the machine is not always the same temperature, it will take longer to reach optimum temperature when the water starts out colder than usual.

For example some people keep their hot water tank temperature around 115 degrees to help prevent burns to small children, &/or senior citizens. Other people keep their hot water tank at 140 degrees because of a dishwasher that calls for that temperature.

That is most likely where the problem lies: Starting water temperature, not house line amperage.

Note if your machine draws 15 Amps it uses 1,800 Watts, the same as eighteen 100 Watt light bulbs.

Solution if the machine water is not hot enough, just wait a while longer.

Answer 2

I'm sure the water temperature is monitored and the heater most probably does operate in a "cyclical" fashion. Turning off at a set temp and back on at a set temp.
The outlet supplies the 120 VAC - the amperage is determined by the load (in this case, the carpet cleaner) and the maximum amperage available is controlled by a fuse or circuit breaker - completely independent of the load.
So it really won't matter if you plug into a 15 amp outlet or a 20 amp outlet, although a 15 amp breaker or fuse might open when the heater initially turns on with a slight surge.
You might want to try another unit - if it works the same, it's probably normal operation. If it works better and the water temp is more consistent, the first unit isn't working properly.

Answer 3

NO. The amperage you are looking at is the fuse or breaker that protects the wiring from burning up. It represents the maximum current that could be drawn by anythings connected to that circuit. For example on a 15 amp circuit you could put 15 100watt bulbs because each draws 1 amp. On a 30 amp circuit your could turn on 30 of those bulbs at the same time.

When the cleaning machine turns on its heater it draws 15 amps. If it drew more than that you could not put it on a 15 amp circuit. However as long as it is on a circuit that can provide 15 amps it will be happy and will put out its maximum heat. If you plugged it into a 30 amp circuit it still will draw 15 amps and will put out the same maximum heat.

Any water temperature differences are illusions. If there is an adjustment for the temperature at which the heater cycles off that could have an impact but the rating of the branch circuit that is feeding it is irrelevant.

Answer 4

Look at it this way: The heater is rated at 15 amps and if you have a wall outlet with a 14 wire rated at 15 amps also, then the current traveling through the wire is the maximum allowed for a 14 wire, and the possibility of the wire getting warm is very probable. The wire gets warm because the electrons traveling through the wire are at a maximum in number and are colliding with one another and of course other impurities in the copper wire. Current is the following: I = Q/t Q = coulombs.
Now if you use a 12 wire, the maximum allowed current is 20 amps, and the 15 required amps is slightly below the 20 amps. Therefore the wire should not get warm, and will easily allow the electrons to flow, delivering the required electrons through the heating elements. The same with the 10 wire, allowing a maximum current of 30 amps. To specifically answer your question about the heating of the element, the heating element is a very thin wire stretched into a tube that is filled with a special sand. I was actually at a factory where they manufactured all types of heating elements (very interesting). Therefore, the heating wire will only allow so many electrons to flow through, so the amperage just allows the volume for the electrons to travel, but the heating element restricts their flow, thereby remaining stable (temperature) no matter how much current is available.
Now if you up the voltage, that is a different story and it would in all probability short the heating element.

Answer 5

Maybe. Maybe not.
In normal, proper wiring, you should always get the same heat in your machine.
However, since you think you get less heat in certain places, there may be a bad connection in that line.
You can check the voltage if you want.
You need a volt meter. They are very common, and can be bought for under $10, or borrowed for free. Get one that has an AC volts scale of 150 volts or higher.
Be very careful when you get near the electricity, or have someone experienced do this. This voltage can kill you. You want to measure the voltage on the plug of your cleaning machine, when it is on and off, but do not touch the plug. The outlet where you plug in is usually a dual socket. The empty socket is always at exactly the same voltage as the one you are plugged in to.
So keep your fingers on the plastic meter probes, and push the meter probes into the free outlet and read the voltage with the cleaner off. The voltage is usually about 117 volts, although anything from 110 to 122 might be normal. Just write it down.
Then turn on the cleaner, and watch the voltage drop. And turn it off again.
As the cleaner draws current, it always causes some voltage drop, but the more it drops, the more resistance there is in your house wiring.
Wires always have some resistance, but too much gets in the way of your power, and (in the extreme) could heat up or caues a fire.
Whatever voltage you start at, a drop of 3 volts or less sounds like no problem to me. A drop of 5 volts or more would have me concerned and may be the cause of the heat loss you might have, so you would want an electrician to look at the power line.

Answer 6

No, the house current rating indicates the maximum the circuit can handle before the breakers kick off.

I imagine you are dealing with a thermostatically controlled heater that has some slop in it. Most are not rigidly accurate controls.

Hard to say where the machine is reading the temp. If it is reading it at the intake water it could be that the water is moving past the sensor and just isn't giving a repeatable set-point for turning off and on. But that part is just a guess since I can't see the machine and how it is set up.

Answer 7

No, you fairly can not. through the numbers, 1800 watts at 100 and twenty volts is 15 amps ((1800/100 and twenty) = 15), it is your fuse's modern score. you fairly shouldn't load that circuit over 1500 watts. An 1800 watt air conditioner needs a dedicated, 20 amp circuit. once you're taking under consideration replacing the 15 amp fuse with a 20 amp, ignore it! Your wiring is rated for 15 amps, no longer 20. to boot, if the domicile is previous, so is the electric powered equipment. it will bypass up like a torch!

Answer 8

The amperage refers to the amount of power that the machine draws. The house doesn't 'put out' amperage, it only prevents too much power from being drawn, which it does through fuses/circuit breakers. (Drawing too much power can cause wires to over heat.)
The 15,20,30 only refers to the fuse/circuit breaker protecting that circuit, not how much power is being drawn.