Any electricians here?

[El_Brio]

I live in an older apartment building in North Chicago. When I first moved in my landlord handed my a package of fuses (the old screw in type 15A) and said, "This will get you started." I knew then that I was going to have problems.

He went on to say that the two air conditioners I had were on the same circuit and that I would probably blow a fuse if I tried to use them at the same time.

I try to only run them one at a time. I noticed that sometimes when one kicks on the lights kinda dim for a second.

Yesterday I was making dinner. I had the kitchen light on. An electric griddle type thing and a George Foreman indoor grill were also on. I popped some toast into the toaster and blew a fuse.

So what I was wondering is what the heck is the problem??? Should I move from a 15A to a 20A fuse(s)? Will that help or is it not recommended?

[Wellington]

I'd be more tempted to call the electricity saftey board & request advice .........

Sounds like its a bit of a "Overload" situation........ I hope you slep with a fire extinguisher handy

[El_Brio]

I think involving a govt agency (especially in Chicago) would be a big mistake. They would probably end up bankrupting my landlord (not a joke). There is a saying here in the US, "Never invite an city inspector onto your property unless you know exactally what he is going to say." I've heard many cases of well meaning property owners contacting their city inspectors for advice or help with something. The next thing they know the city condemns their building or forces multi-thousand dollar repairs.

[Wellington]

Whilst relaxing in your nice hot bathtub ........... Have a wonder to yourself ......... Is this correctly bonded?..... am I likely to fry here where I lie? Umm dunno ........... Lets see do I have faith in my landlord........ Would he knowingly house me in such a dodgy place?

I think you have a bag full of 15Amp answers there..... Still its your life......against his pocket ........ Both of you seem to prefer his pocket

Odd very odd

[El_Brio]

How am I going to get electrocuted in my bathtub? It's not like a take a bath with my hair dryer.

[Wellington]

There are many ways of that occurring, yawn

At the end of the day, no one electrician or garbage collector will be able to answer the question without having a probe about your premisis.....

Me I say "Caution" get it checked......... The city will do it for free

[leprechaun_40]

20 amp fuses will just cause circuit overload and most likely, a fire. You are simply going to have to move to a more modern building to get away from the trouble there. That place has antiquated wiring and just can't handle modern life.

[gjimene2]

If you have copper wiring, go ahead and put in a 20 amp.

If you ever need an emergency circuit, just screw in a light bulb

[Vampiel]

A 15A circuit limit. That's pathetic (dont run a vacumm with much else on), your landlord know's this and doesnt want to shell out the money to update it. Your only option's are...

Move out, call the city inspector's in which case your landlord will be forced to update it, or deal with it.

Short of re-wiring it yourself that's all you can do.

Unscrew one of the jacks, it's easy, and take a look at the wiring, see if it's wrapped in cloth instead of plastic! lol that's dirt old

[DozerLYP]

try not to run the A/C, the George Foreman indoor grill, and the toaster at the same time. these are all big electicity eater.

and i would not put a 20amp in there, you might burn the building down.

you could go buy a heavy duty extention cord, and run the A/C from a diferant outlet, from an other cicuit. that way when you are not cooking, you could run bolt A/C.

[herosrest]

If u have a bog standard home. 15 amps is more than enough..

Depending on how may circuits run of that control - check the earths.

Maybe the bath is plastic? Where is the system earthed.

When l moved to my current (lol) home - 20 year old electrics were eatrthed to the gas supply feed. l was not amused.

[herosrest]

added.

If u run an electric cooker start with anything hanging of that circuit.

[Vampiel]

Just a note : most modern day vaccum's are 10 amps +, given the need for more than a 15A circuit (so if you run a computer and a vacumm it will pop the breaker). Though older homes do not, and are regularly updated b/c of the need for higher amperage ratings.

[Vampiel]

Originally posted by DozerLYP
you could go buy a heavy duty extention cord

Good idea, find out what is the closest plug on a different circuit and use that instead of putting them all on the same one.

All of the kitchen plugs are almost always on the same circuit. You can find out what is on different circuit's by using the electric panel and tripping the breaker to see what that breaker turn's off. What turn's off is on the same circuit.

[gjimene2]

If you want take out a receptacle ( aka, outlet) and check the gauge of the wiring.

Usually it's 14 gauge, but I have seen 12 gauge in cloth insulators.

I just got through replacing the electrical wiring in a house that I changed the fuse box for a 150 amp load center two years ago. They had 12 gauge wiring with cloth and rubber sleeves.

The house was also built in the 20s