AIR CONDITIONING

The pod AC tripped our 20 amp breaker, no damage. We installed a 30 amp breaker which is an easy and quick job. Now it works fine. My husband says we actually could run the microwave or other things at the same time but I haven't tried it. We NEED the AC in this weather to cool off. Our house has no AC.
Once again the pod proves it's worth!

In the end there's just a song comes cryin up the night

To put in a 30 amp breaker is not a hazard. Just be careful with those live wires when installing it!

In the end there's just a song comes cryin up the night

Ratdog wrote:

Is it safe to change out a breaker to one with a higher amperage without changing the house wiring to a larger gauge? Without the beefier wiring, wouldn't you have a fire hazard?

That is an excellent point, I'm surprised the electricians on here haven't jumped on this already.

Be careful, it could be dangerous to simply swap breakers. It depends on the gauge wire used in the circuit and the distance the outlet is from the breaker box. Check your local code. When I installed a 30A outdoor outlet for the pod, our code said I could use #10 wire because the run was less than 100'. If it had been longer I would have had to use #8, which I can tell you from previous experience is like trying to bend copper pipe. (The smaller the gauge number, the bigger the wire is. Go figure.)

Most household wiring for 15A or 20A circuits is either #14 or #12. Swapping a 15A breaker in a circuit wired with #14 for a 30A breaker is asking for trouble, IMHO.

.: Mark & Beth :: Silverado 5.3L :: "arrrr"Pod 172 :: My Albums :: OurPod Blog ::

A little OT but an example of another bad fuse/breaker idea:

I had a summer job in college working on a deep sea fishing boat that took tourists out into the Gulf of Mexico. One day I opened up the fuse box and saw that some of the circuits had pennies in the sockets instead of fuses. There were also extra pennies lying inside the box (backups, I guess, in case other circuits started blowing fuses). I quit that job shortly thereafter. Looking back (45 years later), I wish I had reported what I saw to the Coast Guard but I was young and stupid and didn't.

-- Steve

Steve, Anne, and Paige the Rat Terrier
2013 Lexus RX 450h Hybrid AWD
2011 RP-177 (aka: The Circus Wagon)

Just for information, so y'all can relate to something you know... A 30amp circuit is the same as your electric dryer, or a branch circuit for a garage workshop. A 20 amp circuit is usually reserved for a solo appliance like a refrigerator, washing machine, freezer or room size AC unit or in a garage workshop, so every time the the saw goes on the lights don't blink. A 15 amp circuit is atypical household circuit, for lights, tv's and computers. Can't say I'm a certified electrician, but I apprenticed with one for Habitat for Humanity and I do design laboratories for a living and am familiar with these requirements. With your 30 amp circuit, and a good breaker in it, not a weak one, you should be able to run an AC and a microwave oven, altho starting them up at the very same time would be dicey!

Chris and Walt
'10 RP 171 'Free Spirit'
'13 Durango Crew 5.7l Hemi