rob

202 reputation

bio	website	stackoverflow.com
	location	Lostant, IL
	age	34
visits	member for	1 year, 6 months
	seen	yesterday
stats	profile views	12

Hi.

	202 reputation	bio	website	stackoverflow.com	visits	member for	1 year, 6 months
19 badges		location	Lostant, IL		seen	yesterday

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2d	answered	What could cause an old electric oven to run hot even when adjusted to the lowest setting?
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Dec 21	accepted	How can I automatically disconnect a coffee maker and space heater without tripping the building's 20A circuit breaker?
Dec 16	comment	How can I automatically disconnect a coffee maker and space heater without tripping the building's 20A circuit breaker? I really like the relay and control circuit ideas, but might just go with the switch that seems to be the popular suggestion here, for the sake of simplicity. Is the control circuit something I can just pick up at Lowe's or wire together myself for a few bucks more than the switch or relay solutions? Our space heater has electronic controls and won't turn back on automatically after being disconnected, so it would be nice to just limit the current it gets when the coffee maker starts heating up.
Dec 16	comment	How can I automatically disconnect a coffee maker and space heater without tripping the building's 20A circuit breaker? We're checking with the building manager how much it would cost to add a circuit, but I'm guessing it will be at least a few hundred bucks. I thought our power strip did have overload protection, but now I'm thinking I misread the manufacturer's spec sheet.
Dec 16	comment	How can I automatically disconnect a coffee maker and space heater without tripping the building's 20A circuit breaker? Also, I guess I forgot to mention, we do have UPSes on all the computers but on a couple occasions it took more than half an hour to find someone with a key to the breaker room, and the UPSes automatically hibernated the computers because their batteries were almost depleted. I like the 3-way-switch idea because it saves us the hassle of resetting the breaker and because it will be much more economical than buying higher-capacity UPSes.
Dec 16	awarded	Commentator
Dec 16	comment	How can I automatically disconnect a coffee maker and space heater without tripping the building's 20A circuit breaker? Thanks for the detailed info...I had been trying to think of something controlled by a relay but I think this would also do the trick. Now that you mention it, I think I misread the specs of my power strip. So when they list "Circuit Breaker: 15 Amp" under the "Input" section, are they actually just restating that the power strip is only rated for an input voltage of 15 amps, not that it internally has a 15A circuit breaker?
Dec 16	comment	How can I automatically disconnect a coffee maker and space heater without tripping the building's 20A circuit breaker? To clarify, the power strip was plugged into a Kill-A-Watt meter which read more than 22A with the coffee maker and space heater running. Usually the building breaker trips within seconds of both devices being turned on, but if the power strip's 15A breaker really does take longer than the 20A breaker to trip, that seems a little scary to me. Thanks for the 3-way switch suggestion.
Dec 15	revised	How can I automatically disconnect a coffee maker and space heater without tripping the building's 20A circuit breaker? deleted 157 characters in body
Dec 15	comment	How can I automatically disconnect a coffee maker and space heater without tripping the building's 20A circuit breaker? @TomG, thanks for the correction. I'll remove that question from the list.
Dec 15	revised	How can I automatically disconnect a coffee maker and space heater without tripping the building's 20A circuit breaker? changed title
Dec 15	comment	How can I automatically disconnect a coffee maker and space heater without tripping the building's 20A circuit breaker? Thanks for the suggestion...I looked up the model of one of the power strips and it does claim to have a 15A circuit breaker. cyberpowersystems.com/products/surge-protectors/home-surge/… Hmm...I think they're lying.
Dec 15	comment	How can I automatically disconnect a coffee maker and space heater without tripping the building's 20A circuit breaker? Good question...how do I tell for certain? I had assumed since the switch was labeled Reset/Off, that implied it had overload protection.
Dec 15	revised	How can I automatically disconnect a coffee maker and space heater without tripping the building's 20A circuit breaker? added 245 characters in body
Dec 15	awarded	Editor