Treadmill and Circuit Breaker


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Old 08-29-05, 11:56 AM
robtorres
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Treadmill and Circuit Breaker

I'm having an issue with a circuit breaker tripping every time a treadmill is hooked up to the circuit associated with it. Could it be a bad Circuit Breaker, the Breaker is rated for 15A? I've never had an issue with a treadmill pulling too much juice as to trip a breaker, up until now at least. We're talking about a new home.
 
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Old 08-29-05, 12:54 PM
I
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What else is on this 15A circuit? How much power (watts) does your treadmill draw? I suspect that this 15A circuit is already near capacity, and the treadmill overloads the circuit and the breaker trips as it should.

Add up the wattage of all appliances and lights on this circuit. A 15A circuit is only good for about 1800W. If you are close to or over that limit, the breaker will trip.

Does the treadmill work on different circuits without tripping the breaker? If not, it could indicate a short circuit inside the treadmill. In that case the treadmill would need to be serviced.

To answer your original question, yes. Breakers can go bad, but it is very rare compared to other electrical problems. Is it a special type of breaker such as an AFCI or GFCI breaker? Does it have a "TEST" button in addition to the switch lever? If so, many brands of these breakers have been recalled by the manufacturers; that could be your issue.
 
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Old 08-29-05, 01:08 PM
J
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Pull out the specs on your treadmill to see how much power it needs. If you no longer have the paperwork, look for a nameplate on the treadmill itself. I would guess that most treadmills demand a dedicated circuit.

Be sure to follow up on all of ibpooks good suggestions.

New home, as in just built in 2005? Where exactly are you plugging it in?
 
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Old 08-30-05, 07:18 AM
robtorres
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Thanks for the quick response!!!

TO answer ibpooks,

There is nothing else powered on when the treadmill is on so the only load is the treadmill. Unfortunately, I don't have the power numbers right now, but I will dig them up. Yesterday I tried hooking up the treadmill in the garage, which is a totally separate circuit and the treadmill was running great without tripping any circuit breakers.

The circuit I'm having problems with does not have a test button, and I will look into what kind of breaker it is. Now the circuit that is properly working with the treadmill as a load does have a test/reset button.
 
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Old 08-30-05, 07:21 AM
J
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There is nothing else powered on when the treadmill is on so the only load is the treadmill
This analysis may be incorrect. There are always other loads running (e.g., your refrigerator).

The garage circuit may be a 20-amp circuit. Is it?

We'll anxiously wait while you to look up the treadmill specs.
 
  #6  
Old 08-30-05, 07:21 AM
robtorres
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To Answer John Nelson,

This home was built in 2005, and I'm plugging the treadmill into a standard 120V outlet. Good point I will look on the machine to see if I can find out how much wattage is required to run the darn thing.

Thanks for the quick response!!!
 
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Old 08-30-05, 09:38 AM
I
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One more question. Does the breaker trip right after you plug the treadmill in or does it not trip until you engage the motor? I assume the treadmill probably has electronics of some sort; do those work until you "press go"?
 
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Old 08-31-05, 11:27 AM
robtorres
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Here are the specs for the Treadmill, 120 V @ 9A, so that's 1080W, which is far less than the 1800W allowed. So yeah the treadmill powers up and once the motor engages the circuit breaker will trip. Now, depending on the speed the treadmill is set to determines how fast or soon the breaker trips. The higher the speed the sooner the trip.

What I meant by there not being an additional load, was that there isn't anything else plugged into the circuit which pertains to this breaker. I have another breaker which controls the Refrigerator, a different one that controls AC. etc. I don't know if this makes any sense.
 
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Old 08-31-05, 11:34 AM
J
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If there really isn't any other loads on this circuit, and you're 100% sure about that, then a 15-amp breaker should not be tripping under only 9 amps of load. So I'd probably spend the $5 at this point to replace the breaker. However, it's not a really good job for an electrical novice, since you can kill yourself if you're not careful.
 
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Old 08-31-05, 12:30 PM
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New home, built in 2005, is there any kind of warranty on it?
 
  #11  
Old 09-06-05, 09:14 AM
kwong
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Smile ... rec's dedicated 15-amp circuit for its home treadmills

FYI:

Found this FAQ question/answer on a manufacturers www site regarding their brands of Treadmills ...

"When I use my Life Fitness treadmill, the electrical circuit in my house fails. What should I do?
Life Fitness recommends a dedicated 15-amp circuit for its home treadmills. For optimum performance of your Life Fitness treadmill and stable power for your house, there should be no other large appliances using the same circuit. "

Hope this helps
 
 

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