Voltage Regulator or Alternator

jsstevens said:
My experience with connectors and heat is that they get oxidized a bit and start micro arcing (is that a term?). That generates heat and more oxidation as well as carbon which increases the resistance. It's not that the material's resistance increases, just that the connection gets worse due to oxidation and carbon. And gets hotter.

I've removed a 20A 2 pole breaker that had a loose wire. One side of the breaker was melted away and it never kicked because the current was never over it's rating. (Cutler Hammer Square D clone, back in the late 70s' early 80's).
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And that is why we have arc fault breakers in houses now.
 
JAWS said:
And that is why we have arc fault breakers in houses now.
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Indeed. But only in bedrooms (at least as of 2006. Last time I did any electrical work.)
 
GlennAB1 said:
It must not be mandated nationally, my home is two years old and I don't have them.
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I thought it was NEC mandated. They are breakers in the breaker panel that look a lot of GFCI breakers. They can detect the "noise" from an arc and break the circuit. There's nothing you'd see on the outlets.
 
I am in Canada. They are required on almost every circuit now.
 
My whole box is HACR Type, except for the Sump pump which is an interrupting breaker.

Hmmmm, we'll probably have to install them when/if we ever sell... ;(
 
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GlennAB1 said:
Ahhhhhh, I see, the NEC is not mandated, but regionally adopted.
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Well, true. At least in Central Florida that means "We use the NEC PLUS whatever else we though would be a good idea." One municipality would only allow copper wire no matter the size. So NEC is the floor around here. And all this may be outdated. I stopped being a professional electrician in the mid 1980's. And the only inspected projects I've done since were on my own house addition in 2006.

John
 
LOL. NO. One of the experiences; I had to tell the electrician that the switch his company was installing in our closet door jamb, was only rated 12v, after they had previously replaced the switch a couple times for burning up.
 
With me standing there, he called somebody and told them he was given a 12v switch and after a quick discussion he says "I'll be back later". He came back with a switch that looked exactly the same but rated properly.

Back when it happened I researched it and found it was a $3 switch vs. $12. Must have broke the bank to get the correct one.
 
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