Re: [GrizHFMinimill] tripping circuit breakers



What does the ground wire between the box and ground rod look like?  Around here, code requires a 10 foot long rod driven into the ground, with a copper wire connecting it to the ground bus bar.

Old houses might have a wire run to the steel waterline as a ground.  If the waterline gets replaced with plastic, that becomes a problem. 

Sometimes if looks like you have a proper ground rod, it may not be the correct length  (if they hit rock driving the ground rod).  Or maybe the wire between the rod and the bus bar is damaged.

If you have a metal waterline run into your house, that should provide a good ground for testing.  Use your voltmeter to check the voltage between your ground bus bar and the waterline (with the mill running).  You want to see 0.


On 3/6/2016 3:25 PM, 'Michael Jablonski' michaeljab@cox.net [GrizHFMinimill] wrote:
 

Hello again Dennis,
 
Here are a couple more things you can try. An electrician friend of mine made these suggestions. He said he has corrected problems of tripping breakers by checking a few simple things.
 
1. Are you using any power strips or surge protectors on either the mills circuit or on the kitchen's circuit? If yes, remove them and see if the breaker still trips.
 
2. Do you have any fluorescent lights with electronic ballasts on either of the circuits? If yes, turn them off and see if see if the breaker still trips.
 
3. Do you have any special electronic controlled items on any of the circuits? These are items that have remote controls to turn them on or off. Unplug them if possible and see if that changes anything.
 
Keep us informed on your progress.

Michael - California, USA
Micro-Mark MicroLux 7x16
LMS 3990 Hi-Torque Mill

 
-----Original Message-----
From: GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com [mailto:GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 28, 2016 4:12 PM
To: GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [GrizHFMinimill] tripping circuit breakers

 

First; thanks for the welcome and all the replies to my question. 

Here is a little bit more on my situation. 

The shop is in my basement where I work mostly with hand powered wood working tools.  The counter that the mill is on is located is 14 feet from the service panel. There are no walls in between.  I tripped the 20 amp breaker to the outlet the mill is plugged into, then went and checked all the outlets and lights in the house and garage.  That is the only outlet on that circuit.  

The house was built in the late 60's and we have lived here for about 35 years.  I have had a couple of electrical up grades done including the addition of a garage about 30 years ago.  All work since I've been here has been done by professional electricians and inspected.  I have not tried plugging the mill into another outlet yet.  I would need to use an extension cord, will try that tomorrow. I did check the outlet with a three LED tester which indicated things were correct.  The only other things that I've ever plugged into that outlet is a glue pot and some photo lights neither caused any problems.

I had some lights installed in the garage last fall and the work was checked by the city inspector.  That does not mean that he looked at everything in the panel though.  I'll have The electrician come back to look the situation over and show him some of your ideas as to what the problem might be.

Is it customary for newbys to give a bio on this group?

Dennis

 
In a message dated 2/28/2016 4:33:24 P.M. Central Standard Time, GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com writes:
 

Hello Dennis,
 
Welcome to the group.
 
More information would be helpful. Here is what I would like to know before commenting.
 
How old is the electrical wiring in the house? I ask because if it is a really old house it might not be grounded properly. I've seen some houses that had the electrical wiring "upgraded" by a non-professional who didn't really know what they were doing when they added new circuits. I love the houses where there is new wiring along with old original knob & tube wiring.
 
How long have you lived in this house? i.e. are you familiar with the electrical circuit history of the house?
 
Have you tried plugging the mill into another circuit? If you did, does the kitchen circuit breaker still trip?
 
I'm not sure if this will tell you anything or not but, you might try one of those little plug in circuit testers with the LED lights on them to detect incorrect wiring.
-----Original Message-----
From: GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com [mailto:GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 27, 2016 8:09 PM
To: GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [GrizHFMinimill] tripping circuit breakers

 

Hi folks.  I have just joined this group my name is Dennis.  I just purchased a Harbor Freight mini mill three days ago from Tried and True Tools in Fridley Minnesota.  It is used but looks like new.  I have used a mini lathe for a couple of years and thought it about time to get a mill too.  I have a problem that seems unusual to me any way.  I tried a few simple cuts the first two days while waiting for some tooling and accessories from Little Machine Shop to arrive and everything was fine.  But today while running the mill a circuit breaker kept tripping.  But not on the circuit that the mill is on but one of the kitchen circuits. The circuit in my shop that the mill was running on never tripped.  I unplugged everything that was on the kitchen line except the refrigerator and the breaker tripped only when the mill was running.  The mill has been unplugged now for several hours and the kitchen breaker has not tripped.  Does anyone have any idea as to what might be happening?


Dennis



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Posted by: Joe Blount <joe.blount@sbcglobal.net>



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