(nec as in national electrical code)

there's one circuit for my entire third floor (my room, my bathroom, my large walk-in closet, and the attic)

i've got a small window air conditioner to help offload the strain on the heat pump downstairs, it sucks up quite a bit of wattage.

i've also got a color laser printer that sucks up 900 watts or so when it's printing (100 or so on standby)

plus my computer and stereo and everything else... yeah.

the breaker has started frequently tripping whenever i print or whenever the a/c comes on, etc.

now, the breaker's pretty old so i'm assuming it's tripping before 15A, so i'm going to replace it and see if that helps... but...

my question is: in practice, would 14awg wire carry 20A okay (i.e. without catching on fire)? it wouldn't be constant, just short bursts. i know it's a code violation, but i'm renting and i'm almost certain they won't run a new 12awg circuit for me, and i don't want to do work on a house i don't own.

like i said, i know this is totally a code violation, and i wouldn't do it unless i had other options.

let me know.

8/30/2008 7:35:04 PM

It'll be ok

or you'll burn down the house and this thread will be proof it was your fault

..but it oughta be ok

8/30/2008 7:51:00 PM

Depending on the conditions in your house, 20 amps can push (and may even exceed) the ampacity of 14 AWG wire. Regardless of whether or not you exceed the ampacity of the wiring, other devices connected to the same circuit are going to experience degraded voltage once circuit load gets much above 15 amps.

Electrical codes and breaker settings are there for a reason--you should follow them. Consider rearranging your electrical loads.

That being said: no, you're not likely to burn the house down.

8/30/2008 8:40:31 PM

why not just buy a UPS and hook it to your printer AND a/c?

it can handle it and provide the juice you need.

8/30/2008 9:17:40 PM

^i think i like this idea better

and

Quote :

"Consider rearranging your electrical loads."

that's the whole problem, i can't

8/30/2008 10:02:39 PM

If you share that house with other people, you will literally be risking their lives if you try to run more amperage than recommended through the electrical wiring. 12awg is the minimum for a 20A circuit for a reason.

8/31/2008 2:33:39 AM

Quote :

"If you share that house with other people, you will literally be risking their lives if you try to run more amperage than recommended through the electrical wiring. 12awg is the minimum for a 20A circuit for a reason."

can you people not read? i already know this. sheesh.

14 awg wire can handle 32 amps in air. there is buffer room built into the NEC specs.

what i'm asking is exactly how MUCH buffer room there is. i'm fairly sure 14awg will handle 20 amps just fine in short bursts, i just wanted another opinion.

8/31/2008 12:39:59 PM

it would probably handle it just fine

the question is do you want the liability if something happens?

8/31/2008 12:41:19 PM

Quote :

"14 awg wire can handle 32 amps in air."

This may be true of a bare conductor in air. However, the ampacity of a single insulated 14 AWG wire (of the type most likely found in your house) is about 25 amps in free air. The wires in your house are not single wires in free air: they're cabled, sheathed, and installed in a wall.

As I said before, 20 amps is likely pushing the limits of your house wiring.

http://www.wiktel.com/standards/ampacit.htm

8/31/2008 5:50:45 PM

not worth risking it--go with the idea of a UPS.

8/31/2008 7:10:07 PM

which UPS would you guys reccomend? the only experience i have is with the cheap APC unit i have on my desktop and the enterprise-grade generator-based systems we use at work nothing in between

how exactly would it work to prevent the breaker from tripping? all i can figure out it would do is keep the device in question on after the breaker has tripped... maybe if i set the voltage regulation to be super sensitive so when it sucks up current and the voltage across the circuit decreases, it'll trip over to battery?

ideas?

8/31/2008 7:39:07 PM

consumer grade ups arent meant for laser printers

that is a huge resistive load placed on them

8/31/2008 9:06:35 PM

that is why i am asking for opinions on which one i should get

can no one on here read? damn.

8/31/2008 9:08:49 PM

and im telling you that you arent going to find anything that will be approved for laser printers

i destroyed a ups when the printer came online (hp laserjet 5si)

8/31/2008 9:28:20 PM

well fuck

how am i going to resolve this problem then?

8/31/2008 10:02:31 PM

Wire some capacitors into the circuit to absorb the bursts of heavy current draw.

8/31/2008 11:31:57 PM