On Sun, 1 Aug 2010 21:50:18 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:

On Aug 1, 10:11Â*am, jeff_wisnia
wrote:
Higgs Boson wrote:
Lately, one circuit on my box blows. Â*It covers the microwave and
regular oven. Â*I could
understand it blowing when another heat-using appliance, like toaster
oven or toaster Â*runs at same time as microwave. Â*But now it's blowing
all on its own.

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

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

Any info appreciated.

Since nobody has mentioned this yet and it sounds like it's a kitchen
circuit, is the breaker perchance a GFI one?

The microwave may have marginal "hot to ground" leakage which sometimes
becomes high enough to trip a GFI breaker.

If it's not a GFI breaker, then I'll side with those who say, "change
the breaker.

The breaker box was installed many years ago and I don't have any
paper work on it. Is there a way for a non-techie to ascertain
whether it is a GFI breaker?

Also, is it normal for a near-new MW to have the "marginal "hot to
ground" leakage? How do I ascertain this?

(Starts to look like an expensive electrician visit...sob...)

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.
You can be almost guaranteed you do NOT have a GFI breaker installed
in the panel. If you did, you would know because it has a test button
(generally, anyways)