I did the finish detail on a kitchen remodel last year for a friend. During the remodel, an ‘electrician’ did some rewiring. While he was at it, he swapped out two adjacent 15 amp breakers to the lights/receptacles in the bedrooms to a single breaker rated for 80 amps. The wiring is 14-2. The logic behind the change was that my friend had complained that his window A/C unit seemed to be bogging down. My question to all you sparky types, is just what in the heck did the electrician do? (The electrician was a friend of a neighbor – it’s unclear if he was licensed or not.) Does my friend now have an 80 amp circuit to his lights and recepticles, with 14-2 wire? Without pulling the cover, I’m assuming he combined the two circuits into the one breaker that now takes the space of the previous two, though that’s just a guess.
Any help would be appreciated. I’ve already told my friend he needs to get a licensed electrician in to inspect before cranking up the A/C.
Replies
I'm no electrician. But if you described it accurately, then I would think an inspection by someone who knows what they're doing is needed. Those wires are going to be toast long before that breaker throws.
Don't run the AC until it's been checked.
Another day, another tool.
Well one thing you could do easy is switch off the 80 amp breaker and see if the lights and receptacles go off. Let us know.
~Peter
If he has an 80A breaker "protecting" #14 wire this is a problem. The wire will melt, protecting the breaker from wear and tear, before the breaker trips. This is a great way to invite firemen to a house warming party.
He may have inserted wafer breakers to move the A/C to a new 80A breaker. I have my doubts. I have never seen a window shaker draw anything like 80A unless there was a massive internal problem and I can't remember the last time I saw the circuit feeding a window A/C unit sized to safely carry anything like 80A. These units get a break but it doesn't stretch so far as 80A on #14. If that is what is on the 80A breaker.
No need to run into the snow but I wouldn't have the A/C circuit on until it was looked at by someone with qualifications a bit more sure than the individuals who did this job. I would, in your situation, spend $50 and get an electrician out to look at it. Cheap for peace of mind.
did the electrician use the 80 amp breaker to feed a new sub-panel? just a thought....i can't think of anything in a house that would require an 80 amp breaker by itself
I suspect there was some rearrangement in the box and the labels weren't switched afterwards, likely the 80A dual is to a sub box. Would an electric furnace take an 80A breaker? The first suggestion is to see what that breaker controls, and what all the other breakers control. There is no substitute for a complete mapping of all breakers and devices. I have cursory labels on the breakers, but the complete listing is on a separate 4 page sheet kept near the panel.
Forget about the A/C, thing number one turn off that 80 amp breaker until you find out what it feeds. If it's #14, that's a dangerous condition even if you don't load it intentionally. An accidental short to ground, like a hot coming loose in a box someplace, would be enough to start a fire.
-- J.S.
If you can't figure out what the 80 Amp breaker controls, and you're comfortable doing so, pull the face plate cover. If there is 14 gauge wire going into an 80 Amp breaker it'll be obvious. An 80 amp breaker should have wire that's around 1/4" dia or larger going into it. I don't have a chart handy, but I think it'll be around 4 gauge copper or 2 gauge aluminum. NOTE: my memory is faulty so don't accept this as right.
I'd guess the breaker labels are just wrong, but would certainly want to make sure of this. It probably does feed a subpanel or something similar.
When I bought my house there were lights and outlets on 30 & 40 amp breakers. It's no more safe then what you're describing. People do stupid things, many house fires have been traced to people putting a penny in place of a fuse and similar things. Make sure.