Tripping dryer breaker - faulty dryer or breaker?
Our electric dryer is connected to a dedicated 240 V circuit (two linked 30 A breakers). It has tripped a couple of times. The last time, every time I tried to restart the dryer, the breaker would trip. In an effort to isolate the problem, I tried starting the dryer with the heat off, and about 50% of the time it would go on and continue to run (other times, it would trip the breaker). Once the drum is rotating, I find that I can turn on the heat and the dryer runs normally. At first I thought the problem was the dryer, but I'm wondering if the problem isn't the breaker. I imagine that there is a spike in electrical load when the motor tries to get the drum started, and coupled with the big load of the heat coming on at the same time, this may be sufficient to trip the breaker. By getting the drum rolling first before turning on the heat, I may be keeping the peak load below what trips the breaker. However, this isn't what should be happening - the breaker should be able to stand me just switching the dryer on, regardless of whether the heat is on or not, no? Thanks in advance. DC.