I can't comment on all these new electronic (GFCI/AFCI, etc.) breakers but old time breakers had a trip curve (e.g.: https://www.electriciantalk.com/attachments/type-b-jpg.52369/). The breaker was guaranteed to trip just above the rated current but only after hundreds or thousands of seconds. On the other hand many times (like 50x) the rated current could pass for a few milliseconds without tripping the breaker. Most breakers would pass 3-5x the rated current for a couple seconds before tripping. All this makes sense when you realize these numbers are sufficient to protect the wires. Fuses are a whole different animal.
-----Original Message----- From: Mercedes On Behalf Of Allan Streib via Mercedes Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2021 10:43 PM To: Mercedes Discussion List <mercedes@okiebenz.com> Cc: Allan Streib <astr...@fastmail.fm> Subject: Re: [MBZ] Generators and Mini-Splits, Anyone Know? What is the error tolerance on the Ampere rating on a circuit breaker? Maybe your 15A breaker is allowing a little more than that, and the recommeded 20 assumes that the actual breaker might trip a little lower. There must be a little headroom on the required rating, so that people don't complain that their breakers are always tripping off. Allan On Sat, Jul 31, 2021, at 9:37 PM, Mitch Haley via Mercedes wrote: > On 2021-07-31 20:29, Scott Ritchey via Mercedes wrote: > > Good data point. Thanks. > > The LRA (locked rotor amps) on my 1.5T are 47. > I do not know why I can start it on a fast blow 15A breaker. > The install instructions demand a 20A HACR (slow blow HVAC) breaker. > Maybe the start kit helps? > What would really help is a 'slow start kit'. > Hard start kits don't reduce LRA, they just reduce the time for amps > to drop. > The 5-2-1 kits are considered the superior hard starts, but slow start > makes it ramp up like an inverter drive. > https://www.cpsproducts.com/hvacr/5-2-1-compressor-saver/ > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
