pyrodice t1_it807kz wrote
Reply to comment by slashfromgunsnroses in Power outlets have a faint smell. by napstur
Well for our relevant current, the smallest home socket we have is 15 A, but if something did in fact start drawing more like 16, it would probably be a slow heat until the 15 amp circuit breaker tripped, but the breaker, the wiring, and the outlet will all be rated the same if they've been installed correctly.
slashfromgunsnroses t1_it82de6 wrote
The point is, you can never be sure that the appliance you plug in doesnt draw more than the rating for a long variety of reasons (bad product, damaged, too many appliances connected to the same outlet etc) so if you want a safe installation you should assume this could be the case and install a breaker thats of the lowest rating in the whole system.
pyrodice t1_it82xhc wrote
Well for us it means the socket and breaker should coordinate, so you can't burn the outlet before something quits.
slashfromgunsnroses t1_it840gc wrote
That works when the appliances function and people havent put too many things on extension cords... i.e. there are more risks in this design...
pyrodice t1_it8erjl wrote
That's an externality to what we're discussing though and is equally true of all configurations
slashfromgunsnroses t1_it8i1x6 wrote
Not really - if the breaker is dimensioned larger than the outlet material you could overload the outlet material by adding too many appliances. If the breaker is dimensioned as the outlet rating the breaker will trip if theres too much current passing through the outlet.
pyrodice t1_it8ia58 wrote
If the breaker is rated the same as the outlet, and the breaker trips, that is good. You don't want to start a fire in the outlet. You always want a circuit breaker to trip before excess heat is concentrated at another connection point.
slashfromgunsnroses t1_it8im6z wrote
Exactly.
But the other guys slammed on me for stating this simple fact...
pyrodice t1_it8k5o4 wrote
I think you should go back and see what you said and see if you misphrased something, then.
slashfromgunsnroses t1_it8t0zo wrote
Im not sure what that would be - help me out. Think I was pretty clear in my first comment
> You need to change your breakers to 10 amps also, otherwise you risk unintentionally overloading the outlets/wires or whatever is the "bottleneck".
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