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Old 06-26-2017, 01:17 PM   #1
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Electrical breakers

So in the process of diagnosing an electrical problem over the weekend, I was looking at replacing some of my breakers. Long story short, all the breakers in my trailer are fine, it was the 50A breaker on the CG power pedestal that was causing the trouble.

Anyway, I took a pic of my panel with the cover removed. I went to a few different hardware stores and found the 15/15 breaker and the 20 single pole breaker with no trouble.

I did not find any 15/20 breakers though. Although searching online shows that apparently Home Depot carries them. One place I didn't not check.

My question is could I remove two of the 15/20 breaks and move the wires around so that I have one 15/15 and one 20/20?
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Old 06-26-2017, 01:21 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by Iwritecode View Post
So in the process of diagnosing an electrical problem over the weekend, I was looking at replacing some of my breakers. Long story short, all the breakers in my trailer are fine, it was the 50A breaker on the CG power pedestal that was causing the trouble.

Anyway, I took a pic of my panel with the cover removed. I went to a few different hardware stores and found the 15/15 breaker and the 20 single pole breaker with no trouble.

I did not find any 15/20 breakers though. Although searching online shows that apparently Home Depot carries them. One place I didn't not check.

My question is could I remove two of the 15/20 breaks and move the wires around so that I have one 15/15 and one 20/20?
Absolutely.
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Old 06-26-2017, 01:55 PM   #3
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I don't see any reason too and possible reason not to. No connection is perfect and all will generate heat, 35 amps in a package would be a little less heat then 40.
Know if you had a bad 15/20 breaker and couldn't easily find a replacement I would have no issue buying a dual 15 and a dual 20 and moving things around. I see no advantage in just doing it for no reason
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Old 06-26-2017, 02:03 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by Iwritecode View Post
So in the process of diagnosing an electrical problem over the weekend, I was looking at replacing some of my breakers. Long story short, all the breakers in my trailer are fine, it was the 50A breaker on the CG power pedestal that was causing the trouble.

Anyway, I took a pic of my panel with the cover removed. I went to a few different hardware stores and found the 15/15 breaker and the 20 single pole breaker with no trouble.

I did not find any 15/20 breakers though. Although searching online shows that apparently Home Depot carries them. One place I didn't not check.

My question is could I remove two of the 15/20 breaks and move the wires around so that I have one 15/15 and one 20/20?
Yup, you can move stuff around however you want. Everything to the left of the double 50 is on one leg and everything to the right of the double 50 is on the other leg. Each leg is good for 50 amps. Ideally, you want to keep the legs' usage somewhat balanced. Even though you have 100 amps available, if you go over 50 amps on either leg you trip the double 50.

Regarding the individual tandem breakers... although in one package, they are two independent breakers. You can buy new ones and move wires around however you want. You just need to make sure the devices the serve stay on the same size breaker. The 15 amp circuits probably have 14 gauge wire and the 20 amp circuits probably have 12 gauge wire.
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Old 06-27-2017, 11:32 AM   #5
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sure you could do it. the only effect that I could see is that you will be moving some amperage off one leg to the other. it currently balanced at 15/20 on each leg. you would end of with 5 max amps less on the 15/15 leg and 5 max amps more on the 20/20 leg. will that matter? probably not as you probably are not approaching the 50 amp limit on what would be the 20/20 leg. and who knows how balanced the usage actually is with all the combinations of different devices going on and off at various times. I would watch it a bit if you ended up with the 20/20 supporting two a/c's or the two a/c's on the same leg. i'd try to ensure that they are on different legs as they are higher amperage draw devices. also, our trailer came wired for a washer and dryer that are not installed. there are breakers for them with no load. you might want to just use one of those unused breakers if you have them.
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Old 06-27-2017, 11:46 AM   #6
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Short answer, sure! If you know what you're doing, have at it.

If you do, you should look to balance the loads of what you actually use. Many times, the electrical systems seem to be thrown together,. without much thought to actual use. If you tend to run a coffee maker, electric heater, microwave, etc. at the same time, I'd try to split those up between the two sides. Maybe put the electric heater outlets and A/C on the same side, since you won't use them at the same time.

BTW, here is a 15/20 breaker: https://smile.amazon.com/Square-Schn...qid=1498582087
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Old 06-27-2017, 12:23 PM   #7
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If wires are not moved from the left to the right side... or vice versa, balance will not change.
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