Guys. So I'm working on this jacuzzi that came with the house we bought.
There are 2 sets of outlets.
If I plug the jacuzzi pump into 1 outlet, it runs really fast and overheats. And eventually it popped the breaker. If I plugged it into another, it runs just fine. But the thing is, when the first one popped the breaker power for both outlets is turned off. Meaning both sets of outlets are plugged into the same breaker. No I want to ask you guys, how can one outlet draw more amps then another if it is hooked up to the same breaker? Is there a way for outlets to regulate their amps?
>>51795805
might want to check the voltage on the breaker that caused the overheat.
>>51795828
I put my multimeter in both outlets.
They both read 120 volts.
>>51795805
Call a professional, dipshit.
>>51795828
I even plugged my drill into both.
And the drill goes crazy fast even when i squeeze it lightly on the more powerful outlet. But it goes fine when I plug it into the less powerful one.
>>51795836
I don't really have a problem. I can plug the jacuzzi into the other outlet.
I'm just baffled at how this is possible. I usually understand how wiring and stuff around the house works. But I've never seen anything like this.
How can one outlet draw more amps than another if they're on the same circuit?
You might want to find out what the manufacturer for the amperage rating. Also, the other outlet might have an additional 110 hooked up, assuming you're in North America
>>51795861
If you don't know what is going on, there is a good chance your house will catch fire due to your ignorance. No one here will ever give you the answer you need. For the most part, they are children will little experience and their whole ``opinion'' is based off a shitty cheese colored image of shit tier building materials.
go to >>>/diy/ if you don't care what happens but want someone to bullshit you with words and graphs that might seem related.
Calling a professional is the best advice for you. Whether you choose to heed it matters not to meow. ;3
>>51795915
>The other outlet might have an additional 110 hooked up.
If there were another 110 hooked up, it would be coming from another circuit.
But once I pop the breaker...
Wait, I just thought of something.
Running to the breaker. Hold on.
>>51795950
I'm back.
False alarm.
I thought maybe your idea about another 110 being hooked up to that outlet could be true, because I saw another breaker that was popped earlier. But it's not popped after I overheated the bump just now.
It sounds like there's something fucked up with the wiring in the electric outlet.
Pic related is typical wiring when one outlet is fed directly from a breaker panel.
So I think I'm beginning to understand what's going on.
The breaker has a bar that leads to another breaker.
I think that may be happening is that one outlet is drawing power through one breaker, while the other is drawing it through another. But when the breaker is popped, it turns off the other because of that bar going to the other.
I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to remove the bar.
>>51795805
Post these voltages for us: phase-to-neutral voltage, neutral-to-ground voltage, and phase-to-ground voltage
>>51795805
t sounds like the outlets were incorrectly Ran in Series and not in parallel, essentially the Neutral on the outlet is running to the hot on the next, and so on. that's just a guess atleast.
>>51796134
OP you shouldn't even be using a 220v circuit breaker for electrical outlets. Common electrical outlets like the one you included in pic related are designed for 110/120v.
What does your drill do in any other power socket?
Did you try plugging a lamp in the sockets? What does the lamp do in either, and how does this compare to other sockets in your house?
>>51796134
no, if they are "bar"ed together, it means that you got a wire with 110 down the black, and 110 down the white, with ground as nuetral.
this is normal and ACs and jacuzzis
its a 220 volt circuit
you should have this dedicated for the jacuzzi and it should have a custom outlet and plug so that its not used with anything else.
you should not have normal 110 outlets connected to it
>>51796149
This. OP I get the eerie feeling you may have a hot wire where the ground wire should be attached to.
>>51796253
Obviously the one used for jacuzzi has been wired for 220v. (Because probably the pump is 220v)
>>51796149
After you've done this, cut the power, and measure resistance between the two lives / two neutrals / two grounds in that pair of sockets. If any of those three is more than ~zero, something is terribly wrong.
>>51796253
So I took a picture of the breaker that pops when I overheat the pump. But the thing is, both sets of outlets are set to 120 volt.
I'm suspecting one outlet is hooked up to one breaker. And the other to another. I still don't understand how a motor would run faster on the same amount of volts but more amps. I thought the motor just take the Ann as it's needed. I'm very confused by all this. I think I'm going to get my multimeter again and measure both outlets again.
Picture related. It's on the left. The one with the yellow button that has a bar connecting to the other breaker.
>>51796375
How do I measure amps on this thing? When I set it on the right there, it starts parking. And after I turned it on it doesn't measure volts right anymore.
Or do amps not matter in this case?
>>51796523
You don't, unless you want to measure current *through* the multimeter (which you certainly don't want to do).
Go measure those resistances (the 20k setting should do), with the power off. But first measure the voltage to the ground, that's more important (with the power on, of course).
>>51796149
OP do this ^ you fking tard.
>>51796619
Was just about to do that when my battery died.
Fuck, and the charger doesn't even work.
Damn it.
This is what I get for buying cheep rechargible batteries and a multi meter from China on eBay.
>>51796678
>Was just about to do that when my battery died.
No, you fried your multimeter.
The amperage meter is used for measuring current *through* the multimeter. That is, it involves setting the resistance of the meter to zero, running a device with all power flowing through the multimeter, the the meter measuring the current running through it.
You used this setting and then short-circuited the power socket via your multimeter. This certainly blew the fuse in your multimeter and possibly fried the whole thing, who knows.
>>51796300
Yeah. I get that feeling too. But another thing that bothers me is, if you look at my pic I posted in the OP.
Why would they put two sets of outlets when the hatch for the pump only needs 2 power plugs?
What I'm saying is. Why did they install 4 outlets under the bathtub all hooked up to the same breaker? If there will only ever be 2 power plugs needed down there.
Might just take a bath while I think about it.
electricianfag here, jaccuzzi usually are supplied by a 220v circuit. This circuit is usually accomplished by combining 2 120v circuits. one of those outlets is connected to to circuits. one is only connected to one.
If you turn off the breakers, open the outlet that 'makes shit spin fast' you will most likely find to hot wires going to it. if you disconnect all the wires from the outlet, turn the breakers back on, testing these wires will show you 2 hot wires, one neutral wire, and hopefully a ground.
These to hot wires are each fed from a separate breaker (if you pull all of your breakers out of your main panel you will notice they are plugged into 2 separated bus bars, each a fed from a 120v main. in order to have a successfull 220v circuit, the 2 120v feeds need to come from breakers that are on the 2 different main feeds.
>>51796819
Yet he measured the voltage over the sockets, and reported 120V on each. He could have messed it up, of course.
>>51796819
Also, don't 220V circuits use, you know, different plugs and sockets?
>>51796819
cont.
the reason that breaker has a bar connecting it to the adjacent breaker indicates it is meant to be used as a 220v circuit. since you have two breakers, side by side, each fed from a separate 120v main.
If you tested both outlets, and read 120v on each you were mistaken, didnt cheack both plugs in the outlet (maybe the 220v circuit is only on one plug), or you have a breaker that was not correctly reset. make sure when you reset the breaker you force it all the over to the off position, as far as it will go (usually clicks) then switch it to the on position.
>>51795805
hire a fucking electrician mate. unless you want to burn your fucking house down
>>51796743
I guess I can't help OP, sorry. I work with electrical wiring sometimes but I do really basic stuff like replace broken/damaged electrical outlets, test outlets to make sure they deliver 120 volts and not 240 volts, and make sure the hot wire is not plugged into the wrong hole. You should check out the /diy/ board since they are more likely to help you. If all fails then I'm afraid hiring a professional electrician is the only solution to your electrical problem. Good luck OP.
OP might be getting 220v on that hot outlet, or possibly double ampage somehow
>>51796743
at some point there was a remodel, and either the 220v circuit was installed adjacent to the existing, or the other outlet was installed. Confirm that your tub does infact need 220, else it may be fine supplied by 110.
>>51796875
The outlets in OPs pic aren't even suppose to be fed 240 volts.
>>51796955
I looked every fucking where on these things. It doesn't say anything about voltage. Last place I can think of is on the pump. I'll check it out.
>>51796965
Correct. And if yis tub is fine with 110, OP can simple remove that outlet from the box (power off ofc) and wirenut all the wires separately as long as they dont feed the other outlet, and tuck them neatly into the box and put a blank cover over it.
>>51796458
Its a 220 breaker
>OP: brave motherfucker getting advice from /g/ for electrical wiring of hot-tub.
>>51797129
ya this should really be in /dyi/
When I open the panel up, the pump was plugged into the very powerful outlet, and the heater was plugged into the not so powerful outlet. I wonder if they plug them in backwards. I believe the heater element needs more ants. But I have already tried it that way. I plugged the pump into the weaker one and the heater into the stronger one, and the breaker still pops after a few minutes.
>>51797142
This, OP go to /diy/ right nao. No amount of gentoo installations will help you right now.
>>51796965
What is probably going on is some time eons ago the jacuzzi had a 240v rated pump and some cheap nagger combined 120v from both sides of the breaker box into a standard 120v socket.
Then eventually the pump went tits up and the owners replaced it with something rated for 120v.
Basically, OP just needs to take one of the 120v legs off of the hot leg of that outlet, safely cap it off, and not worry about it.
There's a short in the first outlet
>>51796875
>(maybe the 220v circuit is only on one plug)
That’s what I believe too. Maybe I didn't pick up on it because I set my multimeter to 200 volts and not 750.
This house is over 30 years old. & I agree with the person that talked about the plugs not being the right ones.
>>51796523
OP do not measure current with this meter. Even with a good meter you shouldn't be measuring the current of a jacuzzi anyway you're going to start a fire or injure yourself. This meter is cheap and you shouldn't be using it on mains voltages
>>51797381
I'll get a clamp meter one of thsee days.
>>51797426
That would be better but that's not really the issue here. DO check the mains voltage but use a better meter, don't worry about the current just make sure the voltage is correct.
>>51795916
>meow ;3
die
>>51795916
>get a professional!
Look you idiot, not everything in life requires a professional's help. Most of the time, problems can be solved simply by discussing things with others, and figuring it out. Your can save some money simply by trying to solve the issue, instead of babying your way through it.
Fuck off.
Opie here. I'm back. I just had to put some snow chains on my and my girlfriend's car. So far in the winter previous we have to leave the car at the bottom of the hill because it is so steep. These things are awesome.
The 9 Volt battery charged just fine. The multimeter is working fine too. I'm going to see about those voltages now.
Maybe it is broken. Because all that shows up a just a 1.
It's definitely fried.
But maybe it's just the display. I'll try plugging it into the 200 volt one. Or the one I think is 200 volt. If the first number shows up as at 2, then I'll still prove the theory.
Damn. It's definitely got to be busted.
Well, the problem originally was that the on switch which is basically a laser finger switch, wasn't working. I just bypassed it and used the power cable to go through the closet around and into one of the outlets. If we want to turn it off, we'll just have to pull the plug out. Or you can push that little button at the center of the receptacle. Hope my girlfriend likes it. I'll keep it this way at least for the time being. I think I figured out what the problem is too. I plug the heater into the 220 outlet and I plug the pump into a different outlet. Now that only the heater is drawing energy from that circuit, it hasn't burned out yet. I think what happened was, they must have tried to replace a breaker for something else and replaced it with a weaker breaker with less amps. And that's how the whole problem with the jacuzzi started.
He has been running like this with the heater plugged in for a good 10 minutes without problems now. I think I got to the bottom of it. I think the pump is supposed to be plugged into a 120 outlet, and the heater is supposed to be plugged into a I think the pump to supposed to be plugged into a 1 twenty outlet, and the heater is supposed to be plugged into at 240 outlet. Somehow a week breaker. Put in there. I think I should probably replace it with a 30 amp breaker.
>>51800203
Ohhh. And I know now what shorted out the circuit board.
They plugged the little circuit board that's only supposed to be plugged into 120 into a 240 outlet.
Like I said earlier: The power plug was plugged in backwards:
The pump was plugged into the 240 outlet along with it's little circuit board which shorted it out and fried it. That's why the little switching thing doesn't work anymore.
And the heater was only plugged into the 120 outlet, which didn't heat up the jacuzzi.
All I have to do is buy a new circuit board for it and replace it. And if the breaker keeps popping, I just need to get a higher rated breaker.
Thanks guys!
