- Testing circuit breakers with a welder - 3 Updates
| bob prohaska <bp@www.zefox.net>: Jun 05 01:50AM I've been given a collection of residential service panel breakers and would like to check them to see if they trip correctly. They were in use before I got them, so they certainly close correctly, but it's unknown if they trip correctly. As it happens, I have an AC arc welder which can be set between about 20 and 200 amps, with an open circuit voltage of about 80 V. Anybody ever tried this? Does it seem an unrealistically harsh test? Thanks for reading, bob prohaska |
| Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com>: Jun 04 11:01PM -0700 bob prohaska wrote: -------------------------------- > about 20 and 200 amps, with an open circuit voltage of about 80 V. > Anybody ever tried this? Does it seem an unrealistically harsh > test? ** Nope - such breakers are rated to open instantly with fault currents in the thousands of amps. At rated current they will take a while, maybe 20 minutes, since the trip mechanism is thermal rather than magnetic. FYI: A neat, low cost test is to connect an electro cap of about 100uF / 400V with a 6 amp series diode across the output. The peak surge should trip the breaker pronto. ...... Phil |
| Chris Jones <lugnut808@spam.yahoo.com>: Jun 05 09:17PM +1000 On 5/06/2023 11:50 am, bob prohaska wrote: > Thanks for reading, > bob prohaska At least traditional welders (line frequency not switched mode) look very inductive, and are designed to sustain an arc. Whilst I would hope that the circuit breakers are able to break the arc, it is a much harsher test than with a resistive load. If the welder is able to sustain an arc after the circuit breaker opens, then this will destroy the breaker. |
| You received this digest because you're subscribed to updates for this group. You can change your settings on the group membership page. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it send an email to sci.electronics.repair+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. |
No Response to "Digest for sci.electronics.repair@googlegroups.com - 3 updates in 1 topic"
Post a Comment