Circuit Breakers slow tripping..

[AkBrewer49]

So I have a control panel similar to Kal's. I was doing a "dry" run yesterday and after about 40 min of heating the strike water to 160 from about 40, the CB tripped. I shut it down, let it sit and fired it up again. It tripped 3 or 4 more times until it got to temp. It then functioned fine through the mash and sparge. I transferred water to the BK and cranked up the other side. The water was about 155 and as I was bringing about 12 gal to boiling, the other CB tripped at about 15min and kept tripping. I could not get it above 188....
It is a 50amp panel. I am thinking heat related, but not sure. I am running 10ga to all elements and parts.....

 

[MrNatural]

What size elements? What is breaker rated at? Running both elements at same time?

edit* you talking about the individual breakers for each element in control panel?

 

[AkBrewer49]

5500 watt elements, only one firing at a time, and the breakers are rated for 25amps..

**EDIT** The power goes from the power bus to the CB to the SSR to the contactor and then on to the Element....

 

[williamsdm1111]

If you are running 10 gauge wire you can increase the breaker size to 30 amps. 5500 watts draws around 22 amps on 240v. Your load draw may be spiking up higher then 25 amps at some points. Do you have a meter to test the amps under load? Also are they new breakers?

 

[AkBrewer49]

I was thinking that on upping the to 30amp. I have a multimeter, but cant seem to get a rating out of it. yes the breakers are new as is everything in the box....

 

[AllanMar]

What trip curve are those breakers? Should be marked on it, or at least a model/manufacturer. Also have you checked what your voltage is at your panel if your above 240 you'll draw more current.

 

[williamsdm1111]

You should probably up it to a 30. You will probably need a clamp type meter to read the amps that it is drawing. You could borrow mine if you lived near me.

 

[MrNatural]

Just a thought, but there are tons of folks using 25A breakers from Kal or EBrewsupply that are not reporting an issue.
I'm wondering if heat might not be involved. Are you using external heatsinks or positive ventilation (fan) for the SSRs?
It sounds like the issue occurs when SSR is at max output, and recedes when it is just maintaining.
I need to defer to folks that actually have electrons running through theirs, since mine are still in a drawer - but getting closer to freedom.......

 

[AkBrewer49]

I checked voltage and it is not over 240, more like 237. I am using an external heatsink on the SSR's. I purchased eBrewsupply's 50amp kit. I will check the curve, not sure about that. Make and model is Winston DZ47-63 2p 25amp.

Thanks williamsdm1111, but unless you are in Alaska..

 

[williamsdm1111]

Sorry. I'm in WA. Good luck with it.

 

[TreeBeard]

Are you running your pumps through the same breaker as your heating element? If so, the combination of the heating element and the pump could exceed the limit of the 25 amp breaker.

 

[AkBrewer49]

No, they aren't on a breaker a seperate breaker, just running from the same 110 volt soruce from the power strip and 63 amo breaker in........

 

[LazyWrench]

Did the OP ever figure out the problem?

I'm having a similar issue with my EBrewSupply 30a 2 PID 2 Pump controller. Each heater will run (1 at a time, pumps off) for 15 minutes or so, then slow trip the 25A DIN rail rail breaker. After resetting the breaker, the system will run for a few minutes, then trip the breaker again.

 

[kona_dude]

I'm wondering as well. I have a 50a 2 pump panel from an eBrewSupply kit that I will be firing up sometime soon. Would be good to know what to keep an eye on.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[augiedoggy]

5500 watt elements should be drawing no more that 23 amps.... I have an amp meter on my 4500w elements and one will max out at 18.2 the other 18 amps at full power... if it were to draw much more than that then its been improperly rated... more likely the the OP had a defective breaker or poor connection somewhere. Especially if the breaker popped with either element.

 

[ingchr1]

If there is heat building up in the control panel then that will affect the trip curve of the breaker causing it to trip at a lower amperage.

It could also be the tolerances of the breaker and with the load being close to the breakers rating there may not be enough margin to prevent nuisance trips.

A defective breaker could also be a possibility.

If its #10 wire then I would consider going to a 30A breaker.

 

[LazyWrench]

Thanks for the input. I think I'll remove the 25A breaker from the box, as it's redundancy was pointed out earlier.

 

[Jerz]

<<deleted>>

 

[augiedoggy]

My control panel gets up to 24.8 amps at 243 volts so I'm pretty sure a 25 amp breaker wouldn't hold but I've got the 5500W elements, two pumps, lights, 3pids, and a timer running at once. At 29seconds you can see the reading.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEO9bssDjVo

But I believe This thread is about a panel with no pumps or devices on the 25 amp breaker circuit... just one element at a time as the OP stated.

 

[Jerz]

But I believe This thread is about a panel with no pumps or devices on the 25 amp breaker circuit... just one element at a time as the OP stated.

My apologies...

 

[augiedoggy]

My apologies...

None needed...
what you said makes total sense.. I'm just trying to keep the facts straight as to why the OP was really having an issue.