100 amp main breaker trippin

[treebark1950]

Hey farmers I got a few questions for ya!

I have a 100 amp main panel, currently running 78.8 amps through it. I put a clamp on amp meter on it over night to see. Anyways I walk in this morning and no power, go to the main panel and the main breaker has tripped!

My main breaker has 3 wires coming directly into it.

I called my electrician friend and he said in order to replace it I am going to have to have the power company kill power to my building and have them come out and inspect it once the main breaker is replaced? What am i missing here?

To be honest this freaks me out as I'd rather not bring unwanted guests inside. The grow is legal and I'm not worried about the cops, but rippers! What should I do?

I am fully capable of doing basic electrical work, I installed my 50 amp breaker and ran the wires and conduit to my subpanel but I'm not a pro by any means, I've just learned from what I've tried myself.

So how do I replace my main breaker?

Thanks!

 

[convex]

A main breaker with 3 poles is a 3-phase system, might need to balance your load ...

Hiboy is the resident electrical guru ... post your Q. in his thread:



I am sure he will help you sort it out.

Cheers

 

[dank_]

Hey farmers I got a few questions for ya!

I have a 100 amp main panel, currently running 78.8 amps through it. I put a clamp on amp meter on it over night to see. Anyways I walk in this morning and no power, go to the main panel and the main breaker has tripped!

My main breaker has 3 wires coming directly into it.

I called my electrician friend and he said in order to replace it I am going to have to have the power company kill power to my building and have them come out and inspect it once the main breaker is replaced? What am i missing here?

To be honest this freaks me out as I'd rather not bring unwanted guests inside. The grow is legal and I'm not worried about the cops, but rippers! What should I do?

I am fully capable of doing basic electrical work, I installed my 50 amp breaker and ran the wires and conduit to my subpanel but I'm not a pro by any means, I've just learned from what I've tried myself.

So how do I replace my main breaker?

Thanks!

First off, cops are "rippers".

As for the main breaker, I'd ask the resident electrician. But I doubt you'll be able to upgrade that breaker without having guests over.

 

[hiboy]

A main breaker with 3 poles is a 3-phase system, might need to balance your load ...

Hiboy is the resident electrical guru ... post your Q. in his thread:



I am sure he will help you sort it out.

Cheers

thanks for the kind words,
and mama said electrical would get me nowhere
lol

 

[hiboy]

Hey farmers I got a few questions for ya!

I have a 100 amp main panel, currently running 78.8 amps through it. I put a clamp on amp meter on it over night to see. Anyways I walk in this morning and no power, go to the main panel and the main breaker has tripped!

My main breaker has 3 wires coming directly into it.

I called my electrician friend and he said in order to replace it I am going to have to have the power company kill power to my building and have them come out and inspect it once the main breaker is replaced? What am i missing here?

To be honest this freaks me out as I'd rather not bring unwanted guests inside. The grow is legal and I'm not worried about the cops, but rippers! What should I do?

I am fully capable of doing basic electrical work, I installed my 50 amp breaker and ran the wires and conduit to my subpanel but I'm not a pro by any means, I've just learned from what I've tried myself.

So how do I replace my main breaker?

Thanks!

Your main breaker has leads coming straight from your meter it sounds like.
So if you can pull your meter out, its actually simple, youll be able to kill the lines that feed the main, therefore u can work ....dead. The wire not u .....hopefully.
If your panel doesnt have a meter in it then youll have to post a pic to see whats goin on, but im pretty sure it does.
h

 

[treebark1950]

Thanks for the fast replys:

If it is tripping at only 80 amps does that mean the breaker is failing, too old, been tripped too many times, or is there more to this puzzle.


convex,
Yes it is a 3-Phase system and I'm not sure exactly how to balance the load.

Hiboy,
Yes the meter is right beside the main panel and the lines seem to go directly to it, but they are two separate items each mounted on the wall so to speak.

I'll take some pics of it tomorrow.

I'm going to have my e-man look at it asap as well and see what he is down to do.

Thanks fellow farmers!

 

[TigerHwy]

If you have a meter, what is the voltage between each wire? Don't see many 3 phase services for residential. How old is the system? If you reading about 80 normally, that's a pretty good load and it would just take a small surge on one leg to trip the breaker. You need a bigger service. Most likely just replacing the main breaker probably won't cure your problem.

Here is the best way I can describe it; "what is a weak breaker?,, one that is only good for 7 days?"

I'm a licensed electrical contractor, 30 years in the business. If you can give me some more info I might be able to steer you in the right direction. Don't waste your money on a new breaker if that is not your problem. Also, there will be a seal on your meter ring, if you break that ring and don't notify your utility company that your breaking that seal, you open yourself up to a whole lot of headaches, they will say that you have been turning the meter upside down of jumping the meter to steal electricity. Also, at 80 amps your really are maxed out for a 100 amp service, just cause it says 100 amps on the breaker doesn't mean it's meant to run at 100 amps, that's just the max amperage before tripping, however, running that service at full load causes heat in the breaker, which causes the conductors to expand and contract as the temp rises and falls. Heat cycling like that can cause your connections to become loose, which results in even more heat. Check to make sure all your connections are tight. When you get 80 amps on your clamp on, do you get the same reading on all three wires?

 

[hiboy]

Thanks for the fast replys:

If it is tripping at only 80 amps does that mean the breaker is failing, too old, been tripped too many times, or is there more to this puzzle.


convex,
Yes it is a 3-Phase system and I'm not sure exactly how to balance the load.

Hiboy,
Yes the meter is right beside the main panel and the lines seem to go directly to it, but they are two separate items each mounted on the wall so to speak.

I'll take some pics of it tomorrow.

I'm going to have my e-man look at it asap as well and see what he is down to do.

Thanks fellow farmers!

To balance a load, add up your running watts/ amps on each line from that panel. If one wire is adding up to alot more than the other wires, you can remove some of the load by placing the wires on another phase, or breaker.
h

 

[treebark1950]

Thanks fellow farmers!

The issue was indeed an unbalanced load!

Thanks again!!!