# What Did I Break? Electrical Problem.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-break-electrical-problem/575700>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 23, 2011, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-break-electrical-problem/575700 "2011-03-23T07:47:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-break-electrical-problem/575700/41 "2011-03-25T05:42:29Z")

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I once discovered a switch was over heating because it was supplying far more 60 watt bulbs than a 20 amp circuit should. There were 7 chandeliers each with I forget how many bulbs. The breaker never popped. One switch was replaced by somebody taking money for the job. I am not sure the brand of breaker, not GE. I fixed the problem with 40 watt bulbs.

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**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-break-electrical-problem/575700/42 "2011-03-25T11:25:05Z")

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> [@spark240](#):
>
> Who cares how many other circuits there are? If a short or overload is downstream of _this_ branch breaker, that’s the one I want to pop.

Exactly … unfortunately some breakers are not as sensitive to a brief short.

> [@spark240](#):
>
> Right. That’s more like what I was getting at with breaker sensitivity in post #9. QO are good. Siemens are good. GE are crap. Not just for speed; I’ve seen some of them just holding current over their ratings. (Didn’t leave it like that.)

As I said before, fuses are more reliable in this regard.

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-i-break-electrical-problem/575700/43 "2011-03-26T15:35:56Z")

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[QUOTE=Sparky812]  
As I said before, fuses are more reliable in this regard.  
[/QUOTE]

Maybe we need more picture tubes.

Old electronics jokes:  
The $300 picture tube will blow in order to protect the 15-cent fuse.  
The world’s fastest fuse is the $15 transistor that’s back-ordered at the local parts shop.

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