Do Breakers Put Out Power? Common Misconceptions
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 28 май 2023
- Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @electricianu
Have you ever wondered HOW breakers actually put out power? Interesting fact is that they don’t actually put out power and this is a common misconception among non-electricians. In today’s episode of Electrician U, Dustin talks about what a breakers function is.
🤘⚡️MEMBERSHIP⚡️🤘
JOIN ELECTRICIAN U - become a member and get:
FREE Continuing Education every year
FREE Practice Exams
FREE Monthly Video Courses
FREE Weekly Live Instructor-Led Classes
FREE Monthly Educational Newsletter
Premium Members-Only Content
Private Discord Channel
Monthly Members-Only Discord Chats
Sign up here --- www.electricianu.com/electric...
🎧🎹MUSIC AND VIDEO:🎹🎧
/ descantmv
🎬✍️ART AND ILLUSTRATION:✍️🎬
www.daverussoart.com
One of the larger misconceptions in the electrical industry (usually made by non-electricians or brand-new apprentices) is that a breaker will PUT OUT power. So, say a 20-amp breaker will put out 20 amps worth of current. In actuality, a breaker is a safety device with 2 primary functions. To LIMIT the amount of current allowed to pass through it, and to have the ability to shut whatever is on the LOAD side of the breaker OFF. But how does a breaker accomplish these 2 goals?
First, let’s talk about the overload function of a breaker. This function is the THERMAL portion of a breakers design. Breakers are designed to trip when the load becomes greater than its rating. So, a 20-amp breaker will trip when the load attached to it becomes greater than 20 amps, sort of. Most breakers are designed to trip (with the overload function) at 100-130% of their rated value. In-rush of a motor starting is one of the reasons why they are built not to trip at exactly their rated values. When a motor (or any load really) is attempting to first start up (from a dead stop), it will generally pull more amperage for a short period of time, as it is struggling to get moving from a nonmoving state. This will calm down within a few seconds (usually!) and will be within its normal range. If breakers weren’t designed to allow for this, then we would have to install larger amperage breakers and wouldn’t be able to protect the load at the values we need to and would run the risk of damaging equipment or overloading circuit conductors.
There is another major portion of a breaker’s design that protects against short circuits. This is accomplished by the magnetic trip of a breaker. The values of this function are much higher than the overload functions values and are in the 200-300% of the breakers listed amperage. Some breakers are even designed with adjustable magnetic trips. The reasoning behind the higher amperage rating of this function is that there is a considerably higher amperage available in a short circuit condition, as the loads resistance is basically removed from the equation.
So, as we can see, a breaker’s primary functions are to protect the equipment/conductors attached to it and don’t really put out power, but rather control how much current is allowed to flow through it. We hope this has been an insightful look into a breaker’s function and how they operate. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed here on Electrician U? Leave us a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin Stelzer and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.
#electrician #electrical #electricity #common #misconceptions #do #breakers #put #out #power
![Eminem - Houdini [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/22tVWwmTie8/mqdefault.jpg)
I like to think of them as a switchable fuse.
Great explanation. Much appreciated.
Hey Dustin,
You rock. You always explain things very well.
I do have to disagree on your comment on two 20a circuits that share a neutral having to be fed from a 2-pole breaker.
This would only be true if both legs were on the same device, such as a split plug(receptacle).
Just think of all those shared neutrals in all those 3-phase commercial panels. They are on single pole breakers unless all 3 phases are going to one load such as a motor.
Please explain.
Another way to word amperage ratings (on pretty much anything) that seems to click with some people that I try to explain this to is: "The amperage rating is how much this device _allows_ to flow before tripping/shutting down/lowering voltage/catching on fire/exploding (depending on the type of device)."
Remember, sometimes the rating is intentionally for the catching on fire bit. Think of Estes rocket electric igniters. At their rated amperage they do catch fire rather intentionally. Knowing this lets you choose a lower amperage to check the continuity of your model rocket ignition system prior to launch countdown. ('Cause those alligator clips get mighty crusty over time, and you want to know that you have good electrical connection for the next launch.)
You mentioned circuits with a common neutral. My nieces house features this as I discovered one day when I got a shock while replacing an outlet for which I’d flipped the breaker. But the neutral for me!
Short of pulling the cover off the panel box and visually tracing wires is there any way to determine which circuits share a neutral? Apart from the 240v breakers for dryer and range none of the other breakers are tied together. Which I’m thinking might be a good idea.
Tx so much.
Something I hear a green horn say a lot and it’s easy to take for granted that people should already know
Can you do a video about motorized breakers
I think of circuit breakers as current limiters that trip when the current drawn on that circuit exceeds the rating on the specific breaker.
Question and maybe some help please. Firstly your channel is fantastic! I'm not an electrician, just a dumb fireman lol, but i love learning. Question is., my home panel is 100A service, Square D. Installed when house was built in 1972. Only changes have been the occasional breaker swap and everything seems connected ok, but occasionally I'll have numerous outlets and light fixtures in different rooms stop working but the breakers do not trip? Then a little while later, all is good again and the stuff works again. Not very clear on how this happens or the severity. I'd appreciate any thoughts on it. Thank you!
Great vid.
As silly as this video is; I can say it's extremely informative to 90% of the regular people out there.
What are the 15A and 20A breakers Thermal Trip threshold point rated at? At what heat/temperate will they trip at?
If i remember correctly, my teacher in tech school described breakers as the safety valves of an electrical circuit
What tech school did you go to ? Prolly the same one as me
Is there any chance you can do any videos regarding lighting circuits…the different types between Lutron/watt stoppers/ power packs …any of that please
Thanks for everything Dustin you block me on a new level
Have a question. I want to upgrade to 200 amp service. How do i know if the wires from the pole are capable of 200 amps?
Was taught that only generators, batteries, solar & wind turbines put out power ( better term would be electrical power ).Circuit breakers are part of the power distribution system.
Live wires can induce current in dead wires if the wires are in parallel with each other, and it's AC power.
Similarly, a 500-W power supply doesn’t necessarily supply 500 watts; that depends on the load connected. Same for a 400-W rated solar panel, or a 50-kVA transformer, etc. it’s the maximum power, not the actual power.
So question of curiosity. If load dictates the current and adding loads to say a wall strip that’s plugged into an outlet are the loads in parallel? I assume because it would decrease resistance and increase current because voltage remains constant.
Yes, all the things plugged into a wall strip (or into the two positions on a normal receptacle) are in parallel. Some German dude named Gustav Kirchhoff described this so well that we named some electronics laws after him (and several other laws in other fields of physics, dude was quite a prolific physicist). Very generalized: The individual voltages across several loads in parallel are all the same as the source (Kirchhoff 's Voltage Law), and the sum of the currents through several loads in parallel equal to the source (Kirchhoff 's Current Law).
Breakers (non-arc-fault) generally have two distinct trip modes. 1: Over current, usually depending on trip curve about 25% over name plate rated load. 2: a short circuit where there is a fault current up to 10,000 kA in a residential panel. That trip time is usually between 6 to 9 cycles of 60 Hz which is about 100 to 300 milliseconds. The higher the fault current, the faster the trip. The breakers protect the building wire, not the appliances. If you need better protection, install surge outlets rated for the purpose. How do you know the available fault current? That's a function of secondary wire size to the utility transformer, the transformer impedance and the power company primary fault current. All that info has to come from the utility.
Question… have you ever seen an outlet completely fall apart? I had to replace an outlet yesterday that had completely broken apart. Replaced it with a GFCI. BTW… I think I’ve figured out at least inherently the difference between homeowner joe like me and a pro. I fought replacing said outlet around a garage door track with a snowblower handle sticking in my back and the jackass that did the original wiring extended the ground via a short wire wrapped inside the two grounds. Fought with it until I stopped… untwisted the wires, realigned everything up… then it went in immediately. I was pissed but I leaned a lesson: if you’re having trouble start like it’s new. Be a professional and get your work area set up. A pro would’ve pulled enough out to have room directly in front of the work area, never would’ve stabbed by a snowblower handle. Also, I need new wire pliers.
😂
I heard that! Assume that there might be messes hidden there are further up.
Giant fuses with an automatic switch mechanism, rather than a burning out style shutoff. Essentially.
Could you do a video on how to determine if a florescent ballast is bad?
With the electronic ballasts its easier to know.
If non of the tubes lights up, then its most certain the ballast thats dead.
If only one of the 2 tubes works, then its most certain the tube
Oh crap! For all these years I've been calling em "Current Limiters". 😆
Gee Wiz. I never thought that.
Circuit breakers....break circuits. Seems pretty clear, but I guess you can't fix stupid.
Is that a sasuke or madara rinnegan tattoo? Thats fuckin awesome dude lol
So do the busbars provide the power then?
NO.Only generators, batteries, solar or wind turbines provide power. Wires, circuit breakers, buss bars just part of an electrical distribution system.
I was told years ago that breakers typically will interrupt above 80% of nameplate for a "continuous" load.
Wrong. They shoulda told you to pay attention to trip curves. 100% 100% of the time is required.
80% represents the allowable load electricians are required to wire for on a breaker. Most breakers as Dustin said will trip at 100% to 130% of the breaker's value.
For homes nothing is calculated for continuous load, because homes generally won't have anything that requires a continuous load let a alone an occupant needing a continuous load. As an FYI, because I don't know if you know this, a continuous load is 3 hours or more of nonstop use.
No, they operate like a switch
Yeah… generators put out power… most everything else limits it…
They are a switch. A smart switch that detects heat. Some breakers were composed of a bi-metal strip where the two metals would expand at different rates and thus warp when heated. That warping would break the circuit.
@@normtheteacher5485 There are also magnetic breakers which are opened by the current flowing though a coil, which creates a magnetic field which causes the contacts to open.
@@andrewalexander9492 correct. I believe the bi-metal design was an older design.
Not a switch but there true purpose is for a safety that will trip just say if your heat pump starts pulling more than it should have then the breaker says no this is all I’m letting ya have
QBH breaker type is the best .. never trips.
Omg.. you have FPE, Commander and Siemens/eaton in the same panel... Lol
Many people THING the small cube that they use to CHARGE their
smart phone will do a FASTER JOB if is labeled as high Watts?
Only if the phone is capable of using all those watts. There are a lot of clever (and unfortunately contradictory across manufacturers) ways of the small cube to tell the phone what it is capable of. It is up to the phone to check what the small cube can do and then only draw a safe amount of power (watts) from the small cube. If the phone doesn't understand how the small cube responds there is a safe, default charging speed commonly known as slow charging. If the phone is (for example) only designed for slow speed charging, it doesn't matter if the small cube is capable of fast charging. The phone in this example will only charge itself at the slow speed.
You’re correct 👍🏾!
2:25
200% of 15A is 30A..
300% of 15A is 45A.
So a short circuit is only 30 to 50A ..?! 🤨🤔
Usualy, the short circuit amp rating of typical breakers is 10 000A .
So, very far from the 200% you said..
I guess you meant to say : 200x
But even then, its only 3000A
That somebody should probably not be an electrician
So you're saying "Amperage is not a word?"
wifi breakers..... there is my suggestion.
Leviton
People do not understand what current actually is?
Current is the flow of electrons. One amp = 6.241 times 10 to the 18 th power of electrons moving past a given point in a second.
@@garbo8962 well written. Clear concise textbook.
@@garbo8962 So, you are saying one amp is one coulomb per second? ;-)
@@Sembazuru Past a given point.
PROTECT, not PRODUCE