How Dangerous?

[T.J.]

I need some advice on this problem. I work with a guy who lied his way into the job and has barely any real idea of what he is doing!! the follow is a work order I saw of his.

"Breaker kept tripping put in another 20amp breaker and it tripped instantly. Found a 30Amp breaker and installed it. circuit now working"

This Idiot took a 20amp breaker and installed a 30amp in it's place. Know I am not a know it all but I do know that a 30amp breaker calls for 10awg wire. This from the same idiot who said he lead a team of guys who traveled around changing ballasts and he was asked to change a ballast and he stood on the ladder for 1 hour trying to figure out how to do it!!!!

So my question is How Dangerous is this that he installed a 30amp breaker where a 20amp breaker came out of?

[Chris Friesen]

Assuming the wires were sized for 20A, if something went wrong and 30A was drawn from the circuit the wires could heat up and potentially cause a fire.

Chris

[Jeff Wisnia]

Well, if the replacement 20 amp breaker tripped "instantly" that pretty well meant there was more than 20 amps flowing in the circuit(s) it fed at that time.

It's highly likely the circuit(s) fed by that breaker are No. 12 wire, in which case they were already overloaded and showed that by popping the 20 amp breaker. They may well have remain overloaded or become overloaded in the future, the wires and/or devices will overheat and fire result.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it about a 9.5 for danger and you really should rat the guy out for doing what he did, lives may depend on it.

Jeff

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, What is he? What is the circuit feeding? Did you plug in anything new lately or installed something new electrical in your house? Better correct te situation ASAP and hope you have a good house insurance in the mean time.

[RBM]

You are not providing enough clear information to make any determination. Since the possibility exists that he may have created a fire hazard, it should be looked into by someone qualified

[HeyBub]

Leave it be. The problem will solve itself when you ask him: "Did you disconnect the feed?"

[William Underhill]

Dangerous indeed, as well as illegal. So maybe it was tripping because the current was 21 or 22 amps; in real, practical terms, is this likely to cause an electrical fire in the near term? Probably not - there's a certain amount of safety margin in the code specs for wire gauge and rated current. However, he didn't fix the problem; he merely masked the symptom. I'm a senior electrical technician in the Navy; if one of my youngsters did something that idiotic, I'd rip his asshole out, then put it back in so the Chief could rip it out as well.

If you work with him, report him to your boss. He's a danger to the customers and will do your company's rep no good at all.

[Oren]

Sincere thanks for your service!!!

And one day he would exclaim; he has had his ass ripped out by the best and still has some left over :)

-- Oren

..through the use of electrical or duct tape, achieve the configuration in the photo..

[hallerb]

instant trip means more than 21 or 22 amps

[Dan C]

The fact that you have to ask a question such as this proves that you are both idiots.

[Bill]

Electrical wiring is done by following the electrical code and is done by qualified electricians.

The electrical code is in place, because in the past, people have died from fires or by being electrocuted. The electrical code has been updated and changed throughout the years to PREVENT these things from happening again.

What you are saying is that an unqualified person is doing electrical work for other people and is not following the electrical code.

Basically he is endangering other people's lives! For to not follow the electrical code is to create dangerous situations. Dangerous to people's lives and property.

This person should be stopped before he can do anymore of his handiwork. And the people who had this work done by this person should be notified that they have a potentially dangerous situation on their hands - that a qualified electrician should inspect the work which was done and correct it.

It is one thing to do this type of work on your own home. Even then the person would be endangering the lives of his family and those who might purchase his home in the future.

But it is quite a SERIOUS matter when someone does this type of work for other people. I'm not a lawyer, but I could imagine there could be stiff fines for both the employee and the employer as well as potential criminal charges.

I should think this should come to the attention of the local electrical inspector and/or district attorney's office.

[Chris Lewis]

According to [e-mail] :

Depending on how instant "instant" is...

I'd assume at least 50% overcurrent. That's getting into the serious danger zone if the wire was sized for 20A.

[CJT]

zone

Perhaps it could result in something like this:

http://205.243.100.155/frames/longarc.htm#Blowup

[Doug Miller]

HOLY S**T!!!