MakerGear Forum

So i know that the printer might not be the culprit as my home is wired with two bedrooms outlets and lights on the same 15 amp circuit but occasionally my breaker will trip while running my 3D printer when I only have a laptop and a LED TV on the other receptacles. I did have computer speakers with an amplified sub also plugged in but un-plugged it hoping that would solve the problem. I am currently printing PLA so my bed is a 60 degrees and hotend at 205. I don't think the printer would be pulling enough amps to trip the breaker but I am not sure. If anyone has any insight into this or areas I should look into to make sure that I don't have any issues with the printer. All help is appreciated as I do a lot of 5+ hrs prints and its frustrating to have them stop mid print because the breaker tripped.
Thanks,
Chad

No its doesn't pull anywhere near that much. I have 3 of them running plus 3 computers with 4 monitors and the office lights all on one 15a circuit and i have never had it trip. The hot end is 40 watts and the bed is 180-220. The electronics and steppers are minimal so worse case you might be pulling 280-300 watts which is nothing. If your sure there is nothing else running and pulling a big load then the breaker could be old and weak.

Years and years ago they put lights and outlets on the same C/B. Also in our house built in 1963 part of the basement bathroom was on the bedroom circuit. Today, that's gone and lights and outlets are separated and outlets are usually 20 amp circuits. Easy fix, find out what is on the existing circuit and don't use anything else except the printer.

Long term fix, run another 20 amp circuit and make it just for the 3D printer.

jimc wrote:the breaker could be old and weak

Seconded!

I spent far too long tracking down the cause of a GFI trip, only to discover the not-very-old GFI breaker was bad. You might have an intermittent wiring fault, but I think that's even less likely than a bad breaker.

A cheap clamp ammeter around that wire in the breaker box will tell you what's happening: if the ammeter says 5 A and the breaker trips, it's the breaker.

Now, if the replacement breaker trips, it's definitely trying to tell you something!

You can pick up one of those cheap clamp ammeters at harbor freight really cheap right now on sale.

I don't recall he said it was a GFI? If the breaker is old and its tripped a lot, or more common a loose wire connection on the CB terminal can also do that. When I was running service calls, a quick check was to touch each breaker to see if one or more was warm , hot. No panel screws no panels removed unless needed. A cheap meter gives you cheap readings. There are good low cost meters.

If I set all 5 printers to preheat at the same time my 1200W UPS will start beeping. 4 doesn't cause it.

Seconding bad breaker

wmgeorge wrote:A cheap meter gives you cheap readings.

Harbor Freight: The Home of Single-Use Tools!

Sometimes that's enough, though.

I'd want to calibrate it with a 100 W bulb, which probably justifies spending a bit more somewhere else to get a real meter that might come in handy again. Besides, you can never have enough tools...

Would it be too simple to just replace the breaker? -- they are cheap.

while many of you are ol' pros, replacing a breaker is a bit more scary for your layman harry homeowner.

I know that my other half wouldn't like to see me pulling apart the breaker box.