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Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA to TheMG

Premium Member

to TheMG

Re: Furniture and a power outlet

said by TheMG:

I think he's referring to the GFCI receptacle itself failing, which is definitely possible, although personally I haven't witnessed such a failure, but that doesn't mean they don't happen.

They do contain sensitive electronic components which can definitely fail, especially if subjected to transient surges and spikes. They typically contain MOV for protection of their own internal circuitry, but that is not infallible, especially in areas where lightning storms are frequent.

Yes they do fail. Personally I've had three fail here. One outdoor receptacle and two in our bathroom. The bathroom is probably caused by the hairdryer and curling iron over time.

AVD
Respice, Adspice, Prospice
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ

AVD to chamberc

Premium Member

to chamberc
said by chamberc:

said by Dodge:

This would probaly work if it was 1) smaller and 2) this is going to be used about 3 feet from a bathroom sink, so I'll probably need some sort of GFI outlet.

Avoid GFCI, as they're more trouble than they're worth...

in a bathroom?
AVD

AVD to tvtek

Premium Member

to tvtek
said by tvtek:

I guess so are circuit breakers and fuses

THIS!!!! I hate when a breaker trips, especially when I lose all the work on my computer.
AVD

AVD to fenriswlf

Premium Member

to fenriswlf
said by fenriswlf:

1. Buy a retro box at your local hardware store.
2. Trace the shape of the box with a pencil roughly where you want your outlet to come through.
3. Remove cabinet and cut out hole you traced with a router or jig-saw.
4. Screw retro box into the hole you made.
5. Turn off main power to home.
6. Remove the power outlet and disconnect the wires, pull wire into the new box reattach to outlet; screw that into your new box and replace the cover plate.
7. Turn power back on.
8. Reward yourself with a well deserved beer of your choice.

or just buy an extension cord.

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA to AVD

Premium Member

to AVD
said by AVD:

said by tvtek:

I guess so are circuit breakers and fuses

THIS!!!! I hate when a breaker trips, especially when I lose all the work on my computer.

What in the heck are you running on the circuit your computer is on? I've never had a breaker trip on anything since I moved in in 1989 especially the circuit my computer, printer and modem is on. Now power failures are quite another matter here.

alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC

alkizmo

Member

said by Jack_in_VA:

What in the heck are you running on the circuit your computer is on? I've never had a breaker trip on anything since I moved in in 1989 especially the circuit my computer, printer and modem is on. Now power failures are quite another matter here.

Older houses tend to have the same circuits for several rooms.

For example, my fridge is on the same circuit as the living room and hallway. I'm going to fix that, but it was built that way.

But I can imagine someone with a window AC will have lots of problems on that circuit.

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

said by alkizmo:

Older houses tend to have the same circuits for several rooms.

Part of my house was built in 1954 and has the old wiring with no ground. Circuit testers says "Open Ground" I guess so. That's what my computer equipment is plugged into. Never been a problem. I have two bedrooms and this room with the original wiring.

alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC

alkizmo

Member

said by Jack_in_VA:

Part of my house was built in 1954 and has the old wiring with no ground. Circuit testers says "Open Ground" I guess so. That's what my computer equipment is plugged into. Never been a problem. I have two bedrooms and this room with the original wiring.

What I was saying is that old houses have multiple rooms on single circuits so it's possible to have heavy loads on it.

His PC might be on the same circuit as the bathroom, and then someone goes to use a hairdryer and BAM, your breaker trips.
Or it could be shared with a kitchen receptacle on which the microwave is plugged and he can't change that setup.

In other words: It's a possibility, but if you don't have that problem and don't change what's plugged to which receptacle, you probably will NEVER have that problem.

As for your open ground, it is not going to make a circuit more likely to trip the breaker or fuse, but it is a safety hazard.

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

We plug the vacuum cleaner in it with no adverse problems with the computer. Otherwise it's just the computer equipment and one desk lamp.

alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC

alkizmo

Member

said by Jack_in_VA:

We plug the vacuum cleaner in it with no adverse problems with the computer. Otherwise it's just the computer equipment and one desk lamp.

Vacuums tend to be around 10A-12A
The PC, monitor and lamp can use maybe 2A-3A.
So you're obviously fine. Even 1A-2A over the limit and your breaker won't trip for 5-10 minutes (Time that your finish vacuuming in that room).

AVD's circuit gets overloaded. He might be running a window AC on that circuit and when he plugs in the vacuum, that sends it way over 15A.

ANYWAY, why don't we let AVD explain what's his situation?

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

said by alkizmo:

ANYWAY, why don't we let AVD explain what's his situation?

Good idea. Let's hear from him.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine to TheMG

Member

to TheMG
said by TheMG:

said by fifty nine:

If it fails then you need to clear the fault then replace it. If a fuse blows you don't put a bolt in its place just because the stupid fuse keeps blowing!

I think he's referring to the GFCI receptacle itself failing, which is definitely possible, although personally I haven't witnessed such a failure, but that doesn't mean they don't happen.

They do contain sensitive electronic components which can definitely fail, especially if subjected to transient surges and spikes. They typically contain MOV for protection of their own internal circuitry, but that is not infallible, especially in areas where lightning storms are frequent.

I know he was referring to that. So if they fail, replace them. You're supposed to test monthly. I have had a few of them fail, but they were older ones that couldn't stand up to high RF fields present in my house when I'm on air from my ham radio station. The newer ones are absolutely no problem at all, even with harsher than normal conditions encountered at my house. I had one of them fail "closed" but I discovered it when I tested. (good thing I test them!) I replaced the old no name builder specials with leviton smartlock TR spec grade. They weren't that expensive.
fifty nine

fifty nine to Jack_in_VA

Member

to Jack_in_VA
said by Jack_in_VA:

said by AVD:

said by tvtek:

I guess so are circuit breakers and fuses

THIS!!!! I hate when a breaker trips, especially when I lose all the work on my computer.

What in the heck are you running on the circuit your computer is on? I've never had a breaker trip on anything since I moved in in 1989 especially the circuit my computer, printer and modem is on. Now power failures are quite another matter here.

In my old apt one of the breakers would get hot to the point where I couldn't touch it. Same breaker my computer was on.

Called the mgmt and they sent a repairman. He said don't plug in so much stuff... okay, I had nothing plugged in except my computer. Breaker still got hot and tripped quite often.

When the lease was up I bought a house and left.

The building burned down a couple of months later. Not my problem!

AVD
Respice, Adspice, Prospice
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ

AVD to Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

to Jack_in_VA
said by Jack_in_VA:

said by alkizmo:

ANYWAY, why don't we let AVD explain what's his situation?

Good idea. Let's hear from him.

It was in a lab with a whole bunch of hot plates. We had an electrician come in and re balance all the loads.
Bob4
Account deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey

Bob4

Member

said by AVD:

It was in a lab with a whole bunch of hot plates. We had an electrician come in and re balance all the loads.

You needed an electrician for this? You couldn't figure out how much could go on each circuit by yourselves?
Austinloop
join:2001-08-19
Austin, TX

Austinloop

Member

Probably you do, if a permit is required and an inspection is required. There is that pesky thing called the electrical code.

garys_2k
Premium Member
join:2004-05-07
Farmington, MI

garys_2k

Premium Member

Not to mention that the owners of said lab may not look kindly upon the users making changes to the electrical distribution system.

AVD
Respice, Adspice, Prospice
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ

1 edit

AVD

Premium Member

city owned lab
inspections waived
city electrician

alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC

alkizmo

Member

said by garys_2k:

Not to mention that the owners of said lab may not look kindly upon the users making changes to the electrical distribution system.

said by Austinloop:

Probably you do, if a permit is required and an inspection is required. There is that pesky thing called the electrical code.

said by AVD:

city owned lab
city electrician

I think he meant that it should have been obvious that the hot plates should simply be plugged elsewhere.

But I understand that if those hotplates were in a kitchenette, in which was shared the circuit for the lab, an electrician would have been required to solve that problem (Such as splitting the circuit).

AVD
Respice, Adspice, Prospice
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ

AVD

Premium Member

the hot plates were heating up test samples
AVD

AVD

Premium Member

the hot plates were heating up test samples on a lab counter. We had 3 island units. The original as-built was one breaker per bench. The second time around they mixed and matched the outlets to the breakers.
TheMG
Premium Member
join:2007-09-04
Canada
MikroTik RB450G
Cisco DPC3008
Cisco SPA112

TheMG to alkizmo

Premium Member

to alkizmo
said by alkizmo:

said by Jack_in_VA:

What in the heck are you running on the circuit your computer is on? I've never had a breaker trip on anything since I moved in in 1989 especially the circuit my computer, printer and modem is on. Now power failures are quite another matter here.

Older houses tend to have the same circuits for several rooms.

I used to live in an apartment built in 1970. Two of the bedrooms (receptacles and lighting) and one bathroom were on a single 15A breaker.

We both had power-hungry gaming computers, dual monitors, big sound systems, and each had laser printers. Now add to that the fact that the lights were all incandescent. Quite a bit of load all on one 15A circuit. We were tripping the breaker at least once a month. The UPS definitely came in handy.

Kitchen was tripping almost every week. All kitchen and living room outlets on the same 15A circuit.

The other 3 circuits in the apartment were 15A for the 3rd bedroom + living room + hallway receptacles/lights + 2nd bathroom. 15A dedicated for the fridge, and a 40A for the range.

The whole 3-bed 2-bath 1800 sqft apartment on 4x15A+1x40A!!!!

Good thing we didn't have air conditioners or women (they tend to use very power-hungry devices such as hair dryers) or it would have been hell.
Bob4
Account deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey

1 recommendation

Bob4

Member

said by TheMG:

We both had power-hungry gaming computers, dual monitors,
Good thing we didn't have women

I think there's a cause-and-effect here.

sk1939
Premium Member
join:2010-10-23
Frederick, MD
ARRIS SB8200
Ubiquiti UDM-Pro
Juniper SRX320

sk1939

Premium Member

said by Bob4:

said by TheMG:

We both had power-hungry gaming computers, dual monitors,
Good thing we didn't have women

I think there's a cause-and-effect here.

I hear that...

whizkid3
MVM
join:2002-02-21
Queens, NY

1 recommendation

whizkid3 to chamberc

MVM

to chamberc
said by chamberc:

Avoid GFCI, as they're more trouble than they're worth...

If one could talk with the dead, I'm sure there are thousands of Americans that would disagree.