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Message
re: O-T electricians, need advise to replace my breaker box.
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:23 pm to bhtigerfan
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:23 pm to bhtigerfan
well shite.
A three phase home unit with 100 amp box. damn good luck with that.
A three phase home unit with 100 amp box. damn good luck with that.
2
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:24 pm to Napoleon
A lot of the older neighborhoods had a delta-configured 2,400V 3-phase primary electric feed. I've seen quite a few 3-phase A/C units in these areas. Most of the old 2,400V primary has been converted to a higher voltage Y-configuration and most of the old 3-phase A/C compressor motors have died off and have been replaced with single phase units.
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:25 pm to bhtigerfan
quote:
From what I gather, the main breaker for the house is 100 amp, and there's a 50 amp 3 phase breaker feeding the AC unit.
Sound plausible?
Change out the AC, you are going to have to eventually and now is a good time since it's not blistering hot out.
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:28 pm to bhtigerfan
quote:This is unusual for a residential service. Can you tell me how many wires are coming off the breaker feeding the AC unit? It would have to have 3 wires for it to be 3-phase. 2 wires would be single-phase which is much more common.
100 amp, with a 3 phase AC unit tied into it
quote:Tripping breakers are almost never caused by the distribution panel. The circuit the breaker feeds is most likely overloaded (which is the purpose the breaker primarily serves) or experiencing a short. It's also possible that the breaker(s) itself is bad.
Current POS box has breakers tripping regularly.
Without seeing your panel and knowing more details of your situation it's hard to troubleshoot this problem. That being said I doubt it's your distribution panel and I seriously doubt your AC unit is tripping other breakers but not it's own.
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:29 pm to Napoleon
quote:4 wires into the head.
A three phase home unit with 100 amp box. damn good luck with that.
Let me correct myself, I just read on the box and it's a 150 amp box, a 30 amp breaker feeding the AC unit.
Sorry about the confusion bro.
This post was edited on 12/2/15 at 1:31 pm
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:30 pm to bhtigerfan
sounds like a good do it yourself project for the weekend
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:32 pm to Napoleon
I've been a commercial electrician for 12 years . I know what 3 phase is. 90% of the buildings I wire are three phase. Most all houses are single phase. I've never even heard someone say two phase before
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:33 pm to Napoleon
Look at the overhead and follow to the PoCo wires at the street. Do you see two transformers? If so you could have a 3 phase open delta setup. I figure this is probably the likely case for you. In which 1 phase was tapped twice and the other was tapped to bring you 2/3 phase power.
Lot of dumb handymen in this thread talking about hots and stuff. Firstly on single phase you have 2 legs of 110 volts in which a neutral was center tapped on the secondary of the step down transformer.
If you would like to receive guidance from a knowledgeable electrician and alleviate what all issues you may have, let me know.
Are the electricians trying to get you to replace your entire service?
Lot of dumb handymen in this thread talking about hots and stuff. Firstly on single phase you have 2 legs of 110 volts in which a neutral was center tapped on the secondary of the step down transformer.
If you would like to receive guidance from a knowledgeable electrician and alleviate what all issues you may have, let me know.
Are the electricians trying to get you to replace your entire service?
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:34 pm to Tino
quote:
I've been a commercial electrician for 12 years . I know what 3 phase is. 90% of the buildings I wire are three phase. Most all houses are single phase. I've never even heard someone say two phase before
I installed an open delta 3 phase at my buddies shop. Got the PoCo to install a second transformer. It is definitely a practice that PoCo's implement. I've rarely seen this done for 1 air conditioner.
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:34 pm to bhtigerfan
quote:Then it definitely sounds like you have a 3-phase service.
4 wires into the head.
Can you tell us more about the tripping breakers? Do they all trip at once? How many are tripping?
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:38 pm to bhtigerfan
Is the A/C unit running when the other breakers trip?
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:40 pm to King George
quote:When I bought the house a couple years ago, the home inspector told me about that Fed Pacific box and I read up on them. Piece of crap and the breakers are expensive. We've had a couple of lights added to existing gang boxes in the attic and they trip regularly now.
Tripping breakers are almost never caused by the distribution panel. The circuit the breaker feeds is most likely overloaded (which is the purpose the breaker primarily serves) or experiencing a short. It's also possible that the breaker(s) itself is bad
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:43 pm to JoePepitone
quote:Hard to say, but don't think so.
Is the A/C unit running when the other breakers trip?
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:43 pm to bhtigerfan
There is entirely too much ignorance in this thread.
Short answer: replace the three phase FPE box with a suitable three phase outdoor load center.
Short answer: replace the three phase FPE box with a suitable three phase outdoor load center.
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:44 pm to King George
quote:Nah, just one at a time. Probably about 3 or 4 different ones that I'm having problems with.
Do they all trip at once? How many are tripping?
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:47 pm to LuckySo-n-So
quote:That's the direction I'm leaning towards. But, when my AC unit craps out (think it's pretty old), how much more expensive will it be to replace it versus a single phase unit?
Short answer: replace the three phase FPE box with a suitable three phase outdoor load center.
This post was edited on 12/2/15 at 1:48 pm
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:47 pm to Napoleon
4 wires can still be single phase. Some connections have the two hots, the neutral, and a ground. That's most likely the case. I've never heard of a residence getting 3 phase power.
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:48 pm to ike221
quote:
ike221
Listen to this guy^^^^^^^
But if you must do something yourself, I would remove a breaker from the panel and take it to an electrical supply place (do not go to the idiots at Lowes or HD) and get the same style breaker in the same amperage. Some breakers only fit certain panels.
Breakers go bad sometimes. I had an AC repairman tell me that my unit was bad once. He wanted $4500 to replace. On my fathers advice I changed the breaker out and AC worked fine.
He might be screwing you. Replacing the breaker is a cheap test.
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:49 pm to bhtigerfan
quote:
We've had a couple of lights added to existing gang boxes in the attic and they trip regularly now.
When you purchased your house, did the inspector have an electrician come out and upgrade some of your breakers to arc faults for the lighting circuits. I know inspectors in my area make new home buyers get a licensed electrician to make sure every neutral terminated on its own terminal on the neutral bus bar.
Perhaps your inspector went one step further.
Posted on 12/2/15 at 1:49 pm to bhtigerfan
Make sure you have extra room in the new panel and you can go back with single phase unit.
I promise that's the best solution to your problems.
I promise that's the best solution to your problems.
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