Power keeps shutting off

[jonnie u]

Can anybody tell me what I should do to keep my studio from shutting down .

 

do I need to "up" the wattage in my back cottage.

 

Thanks J.U

[BenLoy]

Sounds like you need more circuts. Are you blowing circut breakers?

[ATM]

Mail the check early.

 

ATM

[Aussie bass dude]

bigger exercise wheels for the rats will produce more electricity

[jonnie u]

Thanks Benloy -

 

I am by no means a electrician, will it be costly and over involved to add more curcuits.

 

Yes I keep tripping the breaker, I bought one of those back batt packs , but it cant be too healthy for my new gear .

 

Thanks again dat dude J.U

[alexclaber]

JU, electric heaters and lights are far more likely to cause the overload than audio equipment. Is there anything plugged in that you don't really need?

 

Also, don't turn everything on at once because most equipment has a start-up surge of current, which then settles to a lower level.

 

Alex

[LLroomtempJ]

Circuit breakers trip because too much current is being drawn. You could have a faulty piece of equipment somewhere, or you could have a bad breaker.

 

Try turning everything on as you would when using your stuff, but turn one thing on at a time and wait for a little bit.

 

Try to see if any one thing is responsible for the breaker tripping.

 

If nothing can really be ruled out:

 

call an electrician to look at your breaker.

 

don't try and mess with that stuff yourself unless you know what you're doing. Electrocution is always a possibility.

 

jason

[moot]

A thicker extension cord?

 

If you have even a rudimentary knowlege of electrical, you should be able to replace the breaker with a new and/or heavier one.

PM me if you need help.

 

Matt

[jonnie u]

Thanks guys - I am going to attempt to record an EP for a band I produce in my house - I recently took the plunge into Pro-Tools HD, and a few other peices. the breaker has been tripping since,I think my elec. is all plugged in to one "line" I dunno,... but i do know the bass line to Jimmy Casters "Bertha Butt Boogie" hehe

 

True, I do have an elec heater in the bathroom,

 

Thanks again Bassies,

 

J.U

 

 

J.U

[butcherNburn]

Keep this in mind:

Everything can be running fine for a while until a refrigerator condenser kicks in and overloads the circuit. That one can really kick you in the pants until you figure it out.

 

If you only have a 15amp breaker don't install a 20 unless the wiring (and everything else) can handle it. The electricians I know generally run wire capable of handling a 20amp circuit even if they only put in a 15amp breaker. Although this is a good practice, it's not always done, and depending on when the origional wiring was installed, it may not have even been a consideration. Call an electrician.

[jeremy c]

I vote for calling an electrician to add a circuit to your cottage.

 

Yes, an electrician is not cheap. And neither is your gear.

 

I vote against installing a bigger breaker.....unless you have an electrician come and tell you that the wiring can handle it....you are risking a fire if it can't.

 

I know Mattulator has significant contractor skills. However, messing with the breaker panel box is generally not a do-it-yourself activity...it's generally a good way to get electrocuted.

 

Now maybe someone can tell me why I keep tripping the breaker in my computer lab...nine computers, ten monitors, six printers, all on one circuit.

[jonnie u]

I burn my self ironing, I'm not even looking at that breaker box -

 

Thanks Again

 

J.U

[Tom Capasso]

One thing you can do in advance is to draw up a plan of the wiring in the house. Do this by turning one breaker off, and then check absolutely every light, appliance, and socket to see which are tied to that breaker (you can use anything that plugs in and is portable to check the sockets). Then turn breaker one back on and kill #2, repeat.

 

I drew a rough floor plan of my house, and drew in all of the outlets and lights and hard-wired applicances (like the oil burner, stove, etc). Then I labelled each with a code for the breaker that covered it.

 

Once you do this, it may be clear to you why you are shutting down. For example, if your frig (righto BnB), washer, oil burner and the outlet with the heater are on one breaker, that's probably bad. If your wiring is unbalanced (which happens especially to older houses as we expand), that could be your problem. While it's not a permanent solution, you might be able to run an extension cord to a socket on the "less used" circuit for the weekend.

 

Your house may also be "underpowered". It happens that older houses don't have the "juice" needed in the modern world, and you have to change the service to the house. That by itself won't fix the problem (and costs quite a bit), but you can then have the wiring improved (maybe a separate circuit for your recording equipment separate from any lights and heaters).

 

Good luck!

Tom

P.S. did you get my second PM last week?

[ClarkW]

When we rennovated a bandmember's garage into his practice room, we had pro help for 2 things:

 

1) Measuring out and leveling the cinder block wall that replaced the open side of the building where the garage door. No cutting corners when it involves the possibility of thousands of pounds of wall to come crashing down on gear and people.

 

2) Connecting the wiring into the breakers (and out from the house). We had wired them all through the walls first, but let the pro check our wiring and do the actual hookups. I'm not afraid of death, but I also see no point in volunteering for it needlessly.

 

We ran 3 20-amp circuits to the band room. Split the room in half for gear to be plugged in, and put heaters and lights on the third circuit. Worked like a charm.

 

Also, having very efficient class D amplifiers helps. They vary the amperage draw based on power needs, so running quietly means running on low power. Very nice.

[moot]

I agree with all above - call an electrician if it is over your head. I worked in a shop once where you could hear the wire rattle in the conduit when powering up a certain machine. Scary stuff.

 

A lot of times a breaker will become "weak" due to a bad connection on the contact bar - hopefully it is that easy. In the meantime TURN OFF THE HEATER! Das Spitzen Sparken!

[cloclo]

Ja! Ganz Richtig!

[...]

If you want to fly me out to NYC, I'll take a look at your wiring and fix it for ya.

 

It sounds like you've got too much stuff on one branch circuit and/or you've got a piece of gear that's causing you headaches. Best of luck, brother.

[Whacked]

like others said before, sounds like too much from 1 circuit.

Tom C posted an excellent idea.

Also near the circuit breakers it should say what the AMPS are for that circuit. Once you draw up the diagram, check that ampres of each equipment on that circuit.

If you exceed it, move things around.

If you dont, call an electrician.

[butcherNburn]

Originally posted by mattulator:

I worked in a shop once where you could hear the wire rattle in the conduit when powering up a certain machine. Scary stuff.

That sounds familiar. I used to work on a printing press that was converted to electric in 1923. On a side note, I was the only one there with all my fingers, though I had a few close calls. Also, running a large folding machine 16 hours a day does wonders for your rhythm. But all you write are very fast songs.

[ClarkW]

Originally posted by butcherNburn:

I used to work on a printing press that was converted to electric in 1923. On a side note, I was the only one there with all my fingers, though I had a few close calls.

"Everyone, meet the new guy, 'Tenny.' Tenny, meet 'Niner', he'll be training you today, as he's the most recent to have gone through new-hire orientation. If you have any questions, just ask 'Three-Bone.'"

[jonnie u]

Yep

my studio had 1 -15amp outlet and I was in it ,with all of my gear.

 

Hey ,,.I played bass all my life, I was always scared of electricty ever since the day my step dad came home with a purple hand, he was a line-man and not from whichita.

 

'preciate it J.U

[Whacked]

Yea, definatly overloading the circuit.

Time to get an electrician and have another circuit or 2 or 3 installed.

 

Electricity aint nothing to get lazy around.

I got blasted by the charge from a 440v capacitor during my stint in the Navy. Crazy thing is I was at least 2 feet away from it. Soaked with sweat (power was off completely, 100deg+ day, fixing a busted gun mount, stress from the capt riding me, and dealing with the heat from the motors too). I walked into the 5" gun carrier room and past the open control panel with the 440. My chief said he saw it jump over to me. All I remember was slamming into the bulkhead 10' away.

 

Not fun at all.

 

If you dont know what you are doing, get someone that does.

[Whacked]

Oh yea, I had a burn mark on my left elbow (where the charge went into me) and on the back of my right hand where I brushed against the metal cage surrounding the carrier. we had rubber mats so I was OK until I hit that cage.. if we were in calmer sea, wouldnt have had that happen to me.