Electrician's Please Chime in! Brownouts Galore! - Free Beer!

[asonitez]

Background:
I used to run a 125 with 3 250w Metal Halides on IceCap Ballasts some things have changed since then.


In my apartment I have the following setup

3X 30 AMP (going by the fuses) circuits.

I'm running

Appliances

2 Fridges
1 Microwave
1 PC with 750w P/S
3 LCD Monitors
1 55" LED TV
1 Receiver

Tank 1
2x 250w halides
4x 54w T-5's
1 Mag 18
1 Sicce
2X Tunze 6200's
2X Tunze 6100's

Tank 2
3X Hydor Koralia EVO3's
1X Hydor Slim Skim
1X 4bulb Current 24" Fixture 24w each bulb


I have begun the process of trying to isolate different items to their own circuit to try and evenly distribute everything across the 3 circuits.

What led me to this problem is that when my LED TV is on and I turn on the microwave i Immediately loose signal from the cable box and the lights dim. Turning off the microwave solves this problem.
I have the same problem with my APEX and I THINK I'm having it with my router that when this "Brownout" happens I loose signal and the APEX reports a power loss and recovery.

I was thinking of purchasing 3 APC backups 1 for TV Equip, 1 for FISH Tank Equip and 1 for Computer Equip.
It is my thinking that the APC backups would condition the power for my devices making them be on uninterrupted power rails and keep my stuff going without problems. Is this the best way to tackle this problem?

I will give 1 Case of Beer (Yer Choice) and a Red Bubble Tip Nem on the next split to a qualified electrician that comes out to my place for a beer some tank talk and a look at my power setup.

 

[Hawkeye]

you should have married an electrician. HAHAHA!

(belated congratulations by the way! loved the pics).

 

[redfishbluefish]

It’s been a while since I’ve cracked the code book, but if I remember correctly, your microwave should be on a dedicated circuit. If you put that on it’s own circuit, you should be good to go.

 

[asonitez]

RED! you came for the free beer! - srsly.. its not just the microwave.. almost anything that draws some juice in the kitchen affects it.. toaster included. YES.. I SAID THE TOASTER!

 

[asonitez]

you should have married an electrician. HAHAHA!

(belated congratulations by the way! loved the pics).

Thanks!


Oh... and I couldn't find an electrician as hot at the time. When she said you should upgrade your skimmer. I said you should marry me and have my BABIES! she said.. only for a pair of Vortechs. Then we changed our first filtration media together and spent the evening fragging SPS and scraping macro algae. Then I woke up.... and she said Pick my fish S**T up off the dining room floor and if she catches me using towels for the tank that she will feed me skimmate. Also told me that if I don't return fish S**T to the Fish S**T closet she would hide/dispose of said fish S**T and never tell me where she put it. Then she ordered that I clean the overflow's and wipe down the light fixture because we had guests coming over and didn't want the tank to look like crap.


I sometimes forget who's the reefer and who's the reefer wife. As long as I get my reef allowance I don't complain.


i'm easy to please.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I’m a little confused. Are you saying your entire apartment is supplied by 3, 30 amp breakers? If that is the case, 30 amp is not the norm. They require 10 gauge wire….very thick (and expensive), as well as 30 amp switches, plugs etc.. The norm for “regular” house wiring/circuits is 15 amp/14 gauge wire and 20 amp/12 gauge wire. :Are you living in a building that was converted from some factory? Again, sort of unusual to find 30 amp in a house (except for cloths driers and air conditioners). Now I’m wondering if you have 30 amp breakers and they ran 12 or 14 gauge wire….that’s a no-no. That thinner wire now becomes the breaker, since the wire would melt before the breaker blew.

 

[asonitez]

Ok So in my apartment we don't actually have a BREAKER BOX just a Fuse box. Where there are 3 Little green Fuses in there that say 30 AMPS on them. And if I unscrew one power goes out.

We do have ONE breaker.. in one of the rooms.. in a weird location but it only seems to control an ADDED on circuit.

 

[shipwrecked]

Hmmm ...seems like yr apt is running on the edge of "overload"...lol Paul's right the microwave should be a dedicated breaker.Thats what we wanted here where I work(apts) but corp said no.Now when people run the microwave the dining room lights dim..and as for a toaster-that is one of the largest draws on a line along with a hair dryer,curling iron,oxgyen machine, etc.Paul is also correct on the wire becoming yr breaker-which could heat up in the wall and cause a fire..we call that here the black wall wiggle worm..Yr breaker box is old school and "back then" we didnt have such a demand on electric as we do now.Time for an electrical upgrade on the apt.

 

[asonitez]

The apartment is going through various renovations but most of it seems cosmetic. PSEG did supply a new transformer to the building in the road in front of the building. not sure what this means for the apartments INSIDE of the building. Rewiring the apartment seems like a costly and time consuming endeavor which I don't think the super/buildings will undertake. Is there anything I can do to help this situation?

 

[redfishbluefish]

Wow! I’d move. Simply put, that apartment is not wired for today’s appliances. I’d almost be afraid to see the wiring….wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find knob and tube. I think Tony (shipwrecked) said it, you cannot run the stuff you’re running on that electrical system. You’re lucky you are only getting a “brown out” and not a fire. You don’t have breakers, you have fuses….which went out (I think) in the 50’s, when breakers were introduced, if not in the 40’s. In all seriousness, you need to upgrade the wiring/service, move or go back to living like Jackie Gleason, in the Honeymooners, with an actual Ice Box. That's the vintage of your wiring!

 

[MadReefer]

To funny Paul. I just watched that Jackie Gleason tribute show a few days ago.
My parents old house had fuses and they had to upgrade to breakers as well. As we kept blowing them no matter what. This was 20/25 years ago.

 

[shipwrecked]

yep agreed, Im hoping at best you have apt insurance.Also wondering if yr apt complex does co's(cont occupancy) which is what townships do to make sure apts are up to standards for safe living conditions.Some towns dont require them.Im just throwing this out there for the topic of conversation and food for thought.I would also make sure you have smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher hangin around.In no way am I meaning to scare you,but to put you in the "know".I wouldnt chance running mh's at 8 hrs a day or more.

 

[shipwrecked]

Sorry forgot to add theres nothing in short you yourself can do that comes to mind aside from the apt complex upgrading the fuse box to a breaker box and re wiring the apt.

 

[trivan]

I do agree that this is a fire waiting to happen. I would suspect that the 30 amp was put in because a 10 or 20amp was blowing all the time so someone say lets just put in a 30. Problem solved. Well, for reason stated the wires are at most able to handle 20 amps.

FYI, I've had more success with Tripplite ups for brown outs then apc. I get frequency brown outs when my ac kicks in. I have had 3 different electricians in the home and they all blame it on NJ power and lighting and the huge load the ac put on when starting up.

I would get your own electrician in quick.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I would suspect that the 30 amp was put in because a 10 or 20amp was blowing all the time so someone say lets just put in a 30

That is an excellent point. I’m willing to bet this is what actually happened. I can’t see that apartment wired with at least 10 gauge wiring. The wiring, as well as the outlets and switches, are most likely for 15 or 20 amp service.

I would get your own electrician in quick.

I’m not sure what getting in an electrician is going to do….He’s a renter and can’t touch the electrical. Although the electrician (or anyone) could simply verify what we’ve been saying by pulling an outlet or switch and checking wire gauge or outlet/switch amperage rating. Gauge 10 wire is stiff as heck and therefore difficult to get in and out of the box. Although while I type this, what will that accomplish. Knowing what little I know about your electrical service, it’s not anywhere up to what you need to be able to safely run what you have in that apartment.

You really need to move….that apartment is not safe! As a minimum (and in the mean time), I’d try to get down to one refrigerator, forget about the microwave, and do not use any other type appliance that either heats or cools.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

[The_Codfather]

It’s been a while since I’ve cracked the code book, but if I remember correctly, your microwave should be on a dedicated circuit. If you put that on it’s own circuit, you should be good to go.

+1

 

[trivan]

I’m not sure what getting in an electrician is going to do….

Yes, I didn't mean to fix anything, but just to make sure what we are guessing is truly the case. If anything to "make" it safe by getting the correct fuse in there and removing thing which will over load the fuse.

to the OP remember fuses are there for protection, if the correct size fuse blows it's a warning that there is something wrong. They are there to prevent the fire. So please don't over load the lines.

 

[asonitez]

i got a buddy of mine said he will talk to a friend to get an electrician to come by and check out the place. the guys a union electrician and knows his stuff well.

 

[Mbodell]

Save your money on the apc backups. The regular ones only switch on and off, they don't do power regulation. Be prepared to spend big money on a battery backup that filters brownouts, etc... They are the smart-ups models. We spent around $2000 for our 2200 watt model. The 300 watt ones we have were around $200. Everyone else is correct though that your service is undersized for the load. You need a bigger service to the apartment.