"D P" wrote in message
om...
Hi folks

I have a problem with my dryer. Putting the dryer on will
intermittently flip the main circuit breaker. There doesn'tseem to be
a particular pattern - the dryer would run for sometime and then cause
the main circuit breaker to flip. The dryer is a maytag 120V/240V
three prong 5600 watts machine. It is on it's own circuit with a 30+30
amp breaker but this breaker neever flips.

My daignosis till now is that when the dryer is on and any other
appliance switch on (even a light bulb) will cause the main breaker to
flip. That would point to a faulty main breaker. Hoever it can be
something else. Is there a 3 phase thing going on for this 240 V
supply ?

Suggestions are welcome. Is replacing the main breaker a very
expensive proposition, since I am not very keen on doing it myself ?

Regards
Debjyoti

Could also be corrosion at the main lugs (big setscrews). Don't try to
touch them, though, without having the utility pull the meter first, unless
you have the right protective gear (rubber gloves and face shield, among
other things).

An honest electrician would do a visual inspection of the load center,
replace the main breaker if he didn't see any other problem, retorque the
main lugs, and charge about $125 to $175, depending on the area of the
country.

Do you, be any chance, have the load center described in this article:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml88/88091.html

Although the article doesn't say anything about it, one of the effects of
the wrong lug material in the above recall is frequent tripping of the main
breaker. For this particular situation, the defective main lugs are steel
colored, and the replacement (good) lugs are gold colored, as they are
chromium dioxide plated.