circuit keeps tripping

[Thedagem]

Hey all, I have a dumb question. My garage only has 1 electrical outlet. There is a chest freezer and a workbench light plugged into it right now. But I recently purchased a fridge to store my homebrew in and threw it in the garage as well. When the freezer and fridge kick on together it trips the circuit breaker. Short of calling an electrician, is there some sort of device that will allow me to plug all this stuff into one circuit? Like some sort of UPS that provides supplemental battery power when they both kick on or relay that ensures they are never both on at the same time? I'm sure with all you electric brewers out there, you've run into circuit breaker problems. I'm not looking to spend an arm and a leg here, but the fridge needs to stay in the garage, and there's no way I could ever justify calling an electrician to wire me an outlet for a beer fridge. I'd be killed. Thanks for your help guys.

 

[Bobby_M]

Is this an attached garage or detached? How far away is the main electrical panel? If it's an attached garage, are there any electrical outlets on the shared wall between the garage and any adjacent rooms?

 

[BigFloppy]

what size is the breaker, do you have other lights and/or garage door opener(s) in the mix as well?

 

[MercMan]

If the circuit did not trip before the addition of your freezer has overloaded the circuit. It's time for another plan.

 

[Thedagem]

I'm away from home right now, but I'll be home in a few hours and I'll check the size of the breaker. Yes there is a light in the garage that I would assume is on the same circuit with the 2 garage doors. It is an attached garage, but the adjacent wall has no outlets on it, as it's taken up by the stairs and a closet. There is no close outlet in any other room. The outlet in the garage is only like 10 feet from the breaker. I find it hard to believe that this would be enough to trip a circuit breaker, but swmbo (who hates the idea of the fridge in the first place) swears that it did. I plan to plug it back in tonight and check to see if the breaker trips or if she's full of s!&#, but I doubt she would lie about it, cause she knows I'll figure out a way to get the thing running. I appreciate your help in the meantime. And I'll check back with the other info as soon as I can.

 

[processhead]

I suspect the garage outlet is not the only one on this breaker. You could switch the breaker off and see what other things quit working while its off.

If you have other devices beside the frig and freezer plugged into an outlet on this same breaker, you might be able to unplug them and relocate them to another circuit. Just depend on what you find.

With newer homes, you usually, but not always will see lights and outlets on separate breakers.

There are no easy fixes, but if your breaker panel is near the garage, it could make it easier to install another receptacle to a new breaker.

 

[Thedagem]

I didn't notice anything else in the house turning off when I flicked the breaker. I don't know much about electricity or the breaker box which is why I'm here obviously but all of the I guess they're fuzes have numbers on the side ranging from 30-100 the one that's labeled garage is only 15 however. Does this make sense to anyone or am I looking in the wrong place inside the breaker box. Would a picture help?

 

[BigFloppy]

Sounds like you have a 15A breaker... 15A x 120v = 1800 total running watts

Motors inherently spike higher on startup, I'd be looking at upgrading your breaker

 

[Wynne-R]

Do NOT install an oversize breaker on an existing circuit. That would allow you to overload the circuit and possibly start a fire.

15 amps ought to be enough to run a fridge and a freezer. Get a Kill A Watt. This plug in gadget allows you to measure the power consumption of all your appliances.

My guess is that your fridge and/or freezer is older than dirt and is horrifically inefficient. If it’s twenty years old, get rid of it. The electricity costs more than the appliance.

If you have something on the circuit you don’t know about, then you need a new circuit. Call an electrician.

The breaker could be bad. This is pretty unlikely unless the wiring is very old and it’s been loaded heavily enough to burn up the breaker. Maybe there was a compressor or welder on that circuit. Call an electrician.

 

[processhead]

Sounds like you have a 15A breaker... 15A x 120v = 1800 total running watts


Motors inherently spike higher on startup, I'd be looking at upgrading your breaker

Never up-size a breaker without confirming the wire size that it feeds.

Breakers are sized to protect the wiring in your house from overheating/burning, not to compensate for the loads plugged into the circuit.

15 amp breakers are standard for 14 gauge wire used for circuit runs.
20 amp breakers for 12 gauge wired circuits.

 

[BigFloppy]

Never up-size a breaker without confirming the wire size that it feeds.

Breakers are sized to protect the wiring in your house from overheating/burning, not to compensate for the loads plugged into the circuit.

15 amp breakers are standard for 14 gauge wire used for circuit runs.
20 amp breakers for 12 gauge wired circuits.

 

[Thedagem]

I got it figured out. The fridge and freezer are both new, so it's not that, I told the wife the fridge was getting moved to the bedroom and she admitted that she fabricated the breaker story cause she thinks it's going to break the bank with the electric bill. She worries about everything, she needs to read Papazian. Case closed.

 

[processhead]

Yeah, that's one they don't teach you about in the text books.
Glad the mystery is solved!

 

[MercMan]

I got it figured out. The fridge and freezer are both new, so it's not that, I told the wife the fridge was getting moved to the bedroom and she admitted that she fabricated the breaker story cause she thinks it's going to break the bank with the electric bill. She worries about everything, she needs to read Papazian. Case closed.

Time for a new Wife?

 

[DocnSun]

An easy fix would be a timer for each one, the breaker trips when both try to start at once a compressor can easily draw close enough amps to trip a breaker, times that by 2 and you have over amperage.

 

[dyqik]

I got it figured out. The fridge and freezer are both new, so it's not that, I told the wife the fridge was getting moved to the bedroom and she admitted that she fabricated the breaker story cause she thinks it's going to break the bank with the electric bill. She worries about everything, she needs to read Papazian. Case closed.

Get a killawatt anyway, and show her exactly how much electricity it does use. My fermentation chamber is running at about $4 since I competed it in June, as it's only running a few degrees below ambient most of the time.

It'll be some time before the killawatt pays for itself in electricity, but that doesn't sound like the biggest expense right now...

 

[broadbill]

I got it figured out. The fridge and freezer are both new, so it's not that, I told the wife the fridge was getting moved to the bedroom and she admitted that she fabricated the breaker story cause she thinks it's going to break the bank with the electric bill. She worries about everything, she needs to read Papazian. Case closed.

Soooo...your wife lies to you so you do what she wants, or to bypass potentially difficult conversations about finances? Um...ok....I think you guys need something stronger than Papazian.

 

[ryan_george]

I got it figured out. The fridge and freezer are both new, so it's not that, I told the wife the fridge was getting moved to the bedroom and she admitted that she fabricated the breaker story cause she thinks it's going to break the bank with the electric bill. She worries about everything, she needs to read Papazian. Case closed.

Ah nuts. I was hoping to see a slew of extension cords coming from all corners of the house leading into the garage to feed beer-related devices.