Breaker cross-question, breaker box, amps, watts, lights, christmas lights...? Ok, so I'm putting up Christmas lights and so far am only...
Ok, so I'm putting up Christmas lights and so far am only using one circuit, it's a 15a piggyback breaker. So far my count looks close to this:
4650 .41 watt mini lights
50 5 watt C9s
That's around 2150 watts and I have nonetheless to flip the breaker, any idea why? Also it is going through a timer which have a 15amp breaker in it, and there's a GFCI on the circuit, thankfulness in credit.
The basis that you haven't blown a breaker is simple :the lights flash
If only 1/4 of your mini's are on at impossible to tell apart time then the watts become 537.5 /110 =4.88 A and the lead size reflects that 5 A nouns
Either you've got the wattage wrong somewhere
or you're using a defective breaker.
A 15A. breaker WILL hold 2150 Watts for pretty a
while, (thermal trip is time delayed to cover short term
overloads), but if it doesn't trip out at adjectives at that load
over time, it's unsound.
Recheck that load and if it's accurate, stop using
the circuit until the breaker is replaced.
Answers: Some times what is on paper have little to do with actuality. Using a digital (accurate) amp clamp, what is the actual constant load on the circuit? What is your actual voltage on the circuit? And also it is not unusual for a 15 amp circuit breaker to hold 18 amps. It depends on how much warmness and dissipation is present in the panel. Before getting to excited, be aware that a #14 rope can handle 20 amps of current beside no degradation of it's insulation at adjectives. Now you know why. On the other hand if you own a Federal Pacific breaker, they are known to fall through to trip until the house burns down.