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TWayne

In ,
typed:
On Sun, 1 Aug 2010 08:09:59 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:

"Higgs Boson" wrote in message
...
Lately, one circuit on my box blows. It covers the
microwave and regular oven. I could
understand it blowing when another heat-using appliance,
like toaster oven or toaster runs at same time as
microwave. But now it's blowing all on its own.

Last time, today, only the micro was being used, to
"reduce" a glass dish of chicken drippings.

Can one circuit go bad all on its own? If so, why? And
what should I do about it.

Any info appreciated.

What is the "regular oven" you speak of? Like a toaster
oven but larger? It may have been marginal all along.
What is the rating of the two appliances? If the
microwave motor is starting to go, it may be pulling more
amps that it normally does.

Also. what is the actual voltage coming in? In the summer
with heavy loads, the power company sometimes reduces the
voltage a bit and that increases the amps. If you live
in an area of high tempertures that may be going on some
days as the AC load goes way up.

120 volts with a 1500 watt appliance = 12.5A reduce to
110 volts and you get 13.6A Maximum safe load on a 20A
breaker is 16A

Except the load usually behaves the other way. !500 watts
at 120 volts, and 1250 watts at 110.

Others are saying a bad breaker, but while it may be that,
I'm guessing overload. Personally, I'd not run a MW and
oven together for just that reason.

The OP wasn't running them together - they were on the same
circuit, but he was ONLY running the Microwave - and the
circuit breaker is by far the most likely problem.

+1 Agreed.
It's interesting how the guessers and faux experts climb out of the woodwork
for electrical questions as though it were the safest, easiest thing in the
world to understand and work with. The degeneration of this thread has gone
far enough off base as to make choosing which responses are useful and which
are not.

Twayne`