Balboni:

B A tenant of mine had an outlet start sparking after trying to plug a
B lamp into it. There is an air conditioner on the same circuit as
B well. The sparking was bad enough to melt the side of the outlet
B where the wire get screwed in. Shouldn't the circuit breaker have
B tripped? Do cicuit breakers go bad such that they do not trip when
B they need to?

A little late in replying but I had computer problem. I've got a
test jig of sorts for testing electronic repairs: 2 Amp circuit
breaker which states has a 3.5A carry, suppose meaning the circuit
breaker will trip if there's an extended time when the current is over
2 amps but allows an over-current situation (up to 3.5 amps) for a
short period of time (to allow power supply capacitors to charge,
etc.).

Wondering if this somewhat applies to your situation: the sparking was
of a short duration, the carry period, so did not trip the breaker.
The spark was hot enough to melt the plastic.

(If I'm wrong I'm quite sure I'll be corrected and we'll both learn!)

-
¯ barry.martinþATþthesafebbs.zeppole.com ®

* I have not yet begun to procrastinate.
---
þ RoseReader 2.52á P003186
þ The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA 563-359-1971
---
þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXMod V1.13 at BBSWORLD *

Sparking can occur without overloading breaker....that's why anti-arcing
breakers are now required by code for bedroom circuits.


"barry martin" wrote in message
news:1518988698.6479.52.6192243.1798648427.RIMEGat ...
Balboni:

B A tenant of mine had an outlet start sparking after trying to plug a
B lamp into it. There is an air conditioner on the same circuit as
B well. The sparking was bad enough to melt the side of the outlet
B where the wire get screwed in. Shouldn't the circuit breaker have
B tripped? Do cicuit breakers go bad such that they do not trip when
B they need to?

A little late in replying but I had computer problem. I've got a
test jig of sorts for testing electronic repairs: 2 Amp circuit
breaker which states has a 3.5A carry, suppose meaning the circuit
breaker will trip if there's an extended time when the current is over
2 amps but allows an over-current situation (up to 3.5 amps) for a
short period of time (to allow power supply capacitors to charge,
etc.).

Wondering if this somewhat applies to your situation: the sparking was
of a short duration, the carry period, so did not trip the breaker.
The spark was hot enough to melt the plastic.

(If I'm wrong I'm quite sure I'll be corrected and we'll both learn!)

-
¯ barry.martinþATþthesafebbs.zeppole.com ®

* I have not yet begun to procrastinate.
---
þ RoseReader 2.52á P003186
þ The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA 563-359-1971
---
þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXMod V1.13 at BBSWORLD *