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02-22-2009, 06:29 AM
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#1
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: K.C.
Posts: 11,731
M.O.C. #5980
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Breaker, breaker..…good buddy
When Thomas Edison applied for a patent on his invention in 1867 to protect against shorts in his electrical system, he pioneered the safety aspect of power distribution.
Breakers are protection devices that should not be used as on and off switches, but many misuse them in this way.
When a circuit is under load, and the breaker is switched off, an arc is formed between the points of the breaker. An arc of electricity is a conductor, so the designers build in a system of breaking that arc. The arc must be contained and cooled. In the small breakers we all use, there is a diminished service life of the breaker and a degrading of the contact points.
I have a slide-show of a large 20 amp breaker I changed out of a commercial account. My customer uses the breakers as light switches, so I change the $180.00 breakers out much too often. I show the contact points in the show.
Our small, thin RV breakers are really cheaply made, so treat them with care.
http://tiny.cc/Breaker
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02-22-2009, 07:52 AM
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#2
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Kville
Posts: 2,865
M.O.C. #7871
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Good information.
Actually, this is an example of BAD information that was started and passed around. I have read on our forum where folks have advised using the breaker as an on/off switch for the hot water heater rather than walking around to the side of the trailer.
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02-22-2009, 08:21 AM
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#3
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: cedar rapids
Posts: 703
M.O.C. #4962
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You said it all OZZ. It is a site when one of the big breakers blow and dangerous also.
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02-22-2009, 09:52 AM
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#4
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Casa Grande
Posts: 5,369
M.O.C. #6333
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Jim, would you recommend changing out breakers ocassionally if they blow frequently. I.e. Kit breaker, or microwave? I don't use them as on/off switches, but the kit breaker blows every now and then....Thank you DW....I guess what I am really asking is: does a 20 amp breaker eventually become a lower rated breaker over time??
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02-22-2009, 10:50 AM
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#5
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: K.C.
Posts: 11,731
M.O.C. #5980
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No, but I am guessing without knowing the circumstances, I think they are just reacting to an overload. If you don't use them as switches, they should last years. They are really pretty reliable, but cheap...
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02-22-2009, 12:15 PM
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#6
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location:
Posts: 560
M.O.C. #8818
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by KTManiac
Quote:
quote:Originally posted by exav8tr
Jim, would you recommend changing out breakers ocassionally if they blow frequently. I.e. Kit breaker, or microwave? I don't use them as on/off switches, but the kit breaker blows every now and then....Thank you DW....I guess what I am really asking is: does a 20 amp breaker eventually become a lower rated breaker over time??
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I've had to replace old, worn out circuit breakers in the stick house before. Finally got tired of running down to the basement to re-set them. Once I replaced them, no more trips to the basement. So, I would say, yes sometimes they do go bad/weak. Albeit, the ones that I replaced were decades old.
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02-22-2009, 12:47 PM
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#7
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: New Bern
Posts: 4,373
M.O.C. #8728
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Breakers can become more sensitive and trip more often as they get older. They will trip from an overload or from getting too hot. If you do replace the breaker and the new one trips, you have a different problem. Replacing the breaker is a relatively cheap first step to troubleshoot a circuit if nothing else is obvious.
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02-23-2009, 02:33 PM
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#8
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Fort Myers
Posts: 5,933
M.O.C. #4282
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Where do we get replacement breakers for our Montanas? I do use my hot water heater breaker as an on/off switch, but it is rarely switched. Maybe once a month or so. Mostly run the WH on propane. As for the switch on the HW itself, that is also known to be an inferior product. If that one goes, though, it apparently is much more difficult to change out than the HW breaker switch.
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02-24-2009, 12:42 AM
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#9
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: K.C.
Posts: 11,731
M.O.C. #5980
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I think I got mine at Home Despot, try there, or Lowe's.
I wired in an outlet for my heater, then used a heavy duty timer to switch it on and off when we typically use it.
http://tiny.cc/Timer
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02-26-2009, 04:52 PM
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#10
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: San Jose
Posts: 389
M.O.C. #2277
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I've had to replace the switch on the water heater because it was toasted exactly like the breaker would be. Cheap crap is cheap crap no matter where it's installed in the curcuit.
My solution was to add a real 120v switch next to the pump switch.
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