I have a suicide shower head and even though the breaker is correctly sized it trips after about 6-8 minutes of showering.
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1$\begingroup$ To answer the question "what in @#$% is a 'suicide shower head'": travel.stackexchange.com/questions/112085/… $\endgroup$– TimWescottApr 5 at 1:16
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$\begingroup$ This may be a much better fit for diy.stackexchange.com. That's a home-improvement site, and if there's any plumbers or electricians from countries where these things are used, they may have a lot more insight into the actual practical "why" of it. $\endgroup$– TimWescottApr 5 at 1:18
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$\begingroup$ Perhaps the "suicide" shower head is faulty. $\endgroup$– Solar MikeApr 5 at 5:41
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$\begingroup$ Correctly sized how? Is the wire sized correctly? $\endgroup$– StainlessSteelRatApr 10 at 21:29
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1 Answer
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Circuit breakers trip because the current is too high or because they are faulty.
A clip-on ammeter will tell you which problem you have.
High amps could be a faulty heater, a partial short-circuit, or possibly too-small wires (you are heating up the wires).
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$\begingroup$ Note: When the current is too high, or the breaker is faulty, "6-8 minutes" is normal behavior. Breaker design and specification includes provision to open after they heat up -- which may be 10 minutes, depending on how big the overload is. $\endgroup$– davidApr 7 at 0:29
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$\begingroup$ Circuit breakers do not detect wire heating. The circuit breaker's amperage is selected so that it trips before the wire gets too hot. $\endgroup$ Apr 7 at 17:51
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$\begingroup$ @TigerGuy Other way around. Wires with more amps get hot. $\endgroup$ Apr 10 at 0:49
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$\begingroup$ @user253751 oaky, but an overloaded (undersize) wire will draw more amps. $\endgroup$ Apr 10 at 17:13