Posted by John T on January 10, 2022 at 11:01:01 from (174.211.99.65):
In Reply to: Breaker trip? posted by 550Doug on January 10, 2022 at 06:39:13:
Doug, great QUESTION
however, I am wondering why the breaker did NOT trip? Usually a short would trip the breaker.
ANSWER
The breaker (assuming it was good) DID NOT SENSE ENOUGH CURRENT to trip even if you saw fire and arcing and smoke.
It doesn't take much current (even far less than the 15 or 20 amp breaker) to arc n spark and just because you see that DOES NOT MEAN the breaker senses 15 or 20 amps which is enough to trip.
What you experienced is one reason why the NEC started specifying ARC FAULT PROTECTION because its easy and quite possible a high heat and flame arc can start a fire even though there's NOT enough current to trip a 15 or 20 amp circuit breaker. A short may be too high resistance to allow 15 or 20 amps of current flow to trip a circuit breaker even if there may be big time arcing n sparking YIKES
..........If the compressor happens to be a Capacitor Start and its bad that can contribute to starting problems
..........If theres a loose or burned or carboned resistive connection (or bad plug or receptacle) that can develop extreme heat and sparks and arcs
.......... Check the start capacitor and especially its wiring connections IF IT HAS ONE
......... Replace/repair the plug and any receptacles with problems
......... If in doubt REPLACE THE CIRCUIT BREAKER JUST TO BE SAFE as they can fail especially if old and/or suffered too many trips
.......... There may be problems with the ampacity of the branch circuit being inadequate to start and run the compressor
........... There are all kinds of rules and exceptions regarding motors and circuits and overload protection and HACR Breakers and dual action time delay fuses etc etc but Im NOT going into that for now lol as it was NOT part of your question
John T NO WARRANTY Im too long retired from power distribution so where fire and life safety are concerned, DONT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT, consult trained professional electricians and engineers and the NEC, the risk is too great
Upload one or more videos to your post. Photo and video filesizes should be less than 5MB. Formats allowed are gif, jpg, png, ogg, mp4, mov, and avi. Be sure to use filenames without spaces or special characters, and filetypes of 3 digits lower case.
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - An Old-Time Tractor Demonstration - by Kim Pratt. Sam was born in rural Kansas in 1926. His dad was a hard-working farmer and the children worked hard everyday to help ends meet. In the rural area he grew up in, the highlight of the week was Saturday when many people took a break from their work to go to town. It was on one such Saturday in the early 1940's when Sam was 16 years old that he ended up in Dennison, Kansas to watch a demonstration of a new tractor being put on by a local dealer. It was an Allis-Chalmers tractor dealership,
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
Sell 1958 Hi-Altitude Massey Fergerson tractor, original condition. three point hitch pto engine, Runs well, photos available upon request
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.