I have a main breaker panel that has different amp readings with a clamp meter on the two feeds. The difference is ~18 amps on one side, and ~28 amps on the other, is this normal? I also have the same difference in readings on the AC blower unit. The unit is feed by a 30 amp double pole breaker, with ~7 amps on one feed, and ~12 amps on the other. Is there a reason for this, and could this cause unuasually high power bills?

What is the difference between Amperage and Wattage?

lbealessio,

Since the output of the adapter is higher than the design of the electronic device is designed for, you may damage the device. It is never a good idea to supply more voltage or amperage than the device is designed to handle.

anon15670,

Most devices have two amounts of power used, one is when it is turning on, where it will tend to use the maximum. During normal operation, the power demand will be lower.

With an air conditioner, most of them cycle on or off depending on the temperatures, so you will see more power used as it cycles up, and then less as it works to maintain the temperature. In general, the amp draw will be 15 to 20 amps peak use by most air conditioners, but the voltages will differ based on how efficient the unit is, as well as how powerful the unit is.

Vince,

You need to be really careful when you are dealing with a 220 line. I am not sure about the exact regulations, but in general, any 220 line should be direct into the breaker box with a dedicated breaker. *Never* connect two lines into the same breaker because it is against the building code in many/most places.

It is always better to pay a little more than to risk starting a fire. If your breaker box is full, then replace it with a bigger box, or you can have another smaller box set up with a feed into the main box. Again, check the building code, but you really don't want to fill a breaker box to the limit(risk of fire).

When in doubt, ask a licensed electrician in your area for advice to make sure you are not doing anything stupid(we all make stupid mistakes when learning, but some mistakes will be really obvious to those who know what they are doing).

onthego4,

If you pull more amps at once than the circuit is designed for, either the circuit breaker(or fuse) will trip, or there is the potential to start a fire. This is what fuses and circuit breakers were originally designed to do, prevent fires due to too much electricity flowing through a line that is not designed for it. What can happen is a circuit breaker will go bad and will allow more current through a line than it is designed for, and you end up with an electrical fire. The type of wire used, insulation, etc is a part of how much it can handle without overheating and causing a fire.

If you have an old electrical system in your house, it might be worth the money to have an electrician check things out and replace the circuit breakers. You also should not neglect to check the master breaker to make sure that it can handle the full load for the house and is working properly.

The house I just bought had 100 amp service with an electric range which by itself was rated for 50 amps max load. I knew right away that that was not good, so Ipaid to have the service upgraded to 200 amps with a new larger breaker box(so more circuits could be added). It is worth paying $2000 to avoid a fire, and even if you have a clue about doing the work yourself, if you are not certain about what you are doing, save yourself the pain of a fire by having a real professional(not someone who takes money but doesn't know what he/she is doing) do the work.

If I have a delicate electronic device that requires a a power adapter with an output of 5volt, 1.6 amp. What happens if I plug it into a power adapter that has an output of 5 volts and 2.8 amps?

I have an underground line running to an outside fixture. There is a hot, neutral, and bare copper ground that I can identify inside the house and at the exterior receptacle. When I use a tester I read continuity on the wires and I read voltage of 125 at the receptacle. However when I plug in anything to the receptacle there is not enough amperage? wattage? to light a bulb or start a tool. I have switched the lines around but get no change. Is it possible the or one line is so corroded or nearly severed such that voltage reads but amperage is not sufficient?

I have a 15 amp circuit in my bedroom. My current air conditioner has a posting of 12 amps and i want to replace it so I can use more appliances while it is on. Unfortunately, all the air conditioners I see (even those with lower BTUs than what I currently have) has this "15 amperes", drawn amperes: 4.6, 6.8, etc) What does that mean? All I really want is to find a lower ampere requirement of an A/C. What is the difference between amperes and drawn amperes?

I have a power supply that has 5000mA 60 Watt max.

Is 5000mA the same as 5 Amps?

rms: "I have an LCD monitor that requires 4amps. what happens if the power supply that I use is only 2.5amps?"

I am not an electrician, but I have enough knowledge to be dangerous.

If it is the power supply that was provided by the manufacturer, you are probably all right.

But I needed to get a small computer peripheral working for a conference call, and could only find a unit that was rated for fewer amps (but the same voltage) as the peripheral.

The conference call went ok, but the power supply just about melted before I noticed it was too hot to touch.

If you threw that power supply in there, I'd get one that is properly sized - It's likely a fire hazard.

I have an LCD monitor that requires 4amps. what happens if the power supply that I use is only 2.5amps?

Suppose I have a 30 amp breaker with 10-3 wire run. At a junction box it splits to a electric dryer with 10-3 wire. Would it be appropriate to run a 12-2 wire from the 10-3 wire at the junction box to a fuse box with a 20 amp fuse to run a washing machine? I'm trying to understand the relationship of the current flowing from the 30 amp breaker through the 10gauge wire and the 12 gauge wire. I'm thinking the only current flowing will be that which is pulled by the device. If so the 12 gauge wire is adequate since the device, the washing machine, will only pull up to 20 amps. Therefore the 12 gauge wire would handle the current flowing to the washing machine.

What will happen if you plug a machine that requires 32.0 amps to an outlet that only produces 31.2 amps?

When you buy a product and it says 15 amps, does that mean that it requires that much amps to operate it or needs to be plugged to outlet with that much amperage but uses less than the outlet put out?

In the first circuits course of my electrical engineering program my instructor said

"If you are going to be a professional you must never use the terms amperage and wattage, the correct terms are current and power"