Help. What is the correct way to report a breaker that is too big.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

o·ver·pro·tectplay_w("O0189400") (vr-pr-tkt) tr.v. o·ver·pro·tect·ed, o·ver·pro·tect·ing, o·ver·pro·tects To protect too much; coddle: overprotected their children.

over·pro·tection n.
over·pro·tective adj.
over·pro·tective·ness n.

lol...to my mind ( and i wont get into opposites and so on...) overprotected would be putting a 15A breaker on a 10 AWG....in basic branch circuit terms would indeed be overprotected for the conductors...not illegal mind you and done all the time for voltage drop issues.

[Nick Gromicko]

Anyone know Rex Cauldwell's email? We should probably alert him.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

lol....editted as I was being MEAN....

Opps sorry......I dont really know.......

[Paul W. Abernathy]

I thought you said you see this in reports Nick.......so you are seeing this in publications...

Heck I always see misinformed information...heck some images displayed in many well known books and inspection education companies books as incorrect....yeah they should get em proofed before publication.

[Nick Gromicko]

I'm seeing it at Report Review often. So I tracked it all down. Rex's book was one incorrect source. The other problem is the resistance (no electrical play on words) some inspectors have in using the term "overfused" when describing a panel of solely CBs.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Ahhh..gotcha......verbiage can be VERY important in educating others. Sorry I elaborated well beyond your needs as it made for good education for others who are unclear on the proper understanding of the terms.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

ok..ok....I can see where "Overprotection" would be kinda the same vectorally as "Undersized"..lolol...but undersized can mean many things electrically and all are generally BAD...lol....overprotection gives the impression of MORE protection or more than is needed when in fact it gives less protection to the conductors in the example being used.

Maybe Rex was speaking of the term loosly...lol.....

Ok..I am done with this one unless anyone would like to add more as hell I am doing nothing today but working on my websites...lol

Lets not make something more complicated that it has to be.

[Greg Fretwell]

What is wrong with saying the overcurrent protection is not matched to the wire size and this may present a hazard. Just be careful that you are not confusing overload protection with overcurrent protection, like an A/C condenser, that appears to have a breaker too large for the wire.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Greg...absolutly nothing but I think NICK was looking for a single term that would explain it versus a term used by Rex Cauldwell as " Overprotected " in terms of a larger breaker on a smaller conductor ( without the exceptions afforded us by the NEC as you stated )....and the use of "Overprotected" in a HI report for the above mentioned example in my mind is improper.

[Nick Gromicko]

Correct. "Overprotected" means a small breaker, not a big one. I like "Oversized" the most.

[Mike Whitt]

Gentlemen

I thank each and every one of you for such a true blessing as I have gotten from this thread today.

A medical fact is that a person cannot worry and laugh at the same time and I have been doing some powerful laughing for the past few minutes.

Each one of you thinks about your side of the discussion and just what "Over Protected” means.

Now without any future though about "Over Protected” think about just what the device you are talking about is called;



Both the fuse and the circuit breaker are know as the;






“Overcurrent Protective Device”

[Nick Gromicko]

Yes, and the smaller the breaker (not the bigger the breaker) the greater the protection from overcurrent. A gap or insulated material would be the ultimate in overcurrent protection.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

lol...mike I think they know what the device is.....I think they are refering to a publication that said putting a larger OCPD on a smaller conductor is termed "overprotection"....lol.......not really talking about the OCPD itself I don't believe but hell I could be wrong. I know WHY I am elaborating on it more....because I am BORED TO DEATH today....

Here is the original post:

I keep seeing reports that call a breaker too big for the circuit it's protecting as "Over Protected."

Why wouldn't it be "Under Protected?"

A breaker that is allowing too much current to pass through wires that are too small would be under protecting the wires... no?

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Nick was right....in his statement. I kinda am guilty for keeping it going just for Sh*ts and Giggles.....sorry

[Mike Whitt]

Yea, it was this phrase;

Originally Posted by gromicko

I keep seeing reports that call a breaker too big for the circuit it's protecting as "Over Protected."

But when I read this sentence I read it as though it was written like this;
“I keep seeing reports that call an overcurrent protective device that is to big for the circuit it’s protecting as [“overprotected”]”
Can you see the humor in the use of the word “over” being used here?

Then just for the fun of it I read the second part of the post

Originally Posted by gromicko

Why wouldn't it be "Under Protected?"

Originally Posted by gromicko

A breaker that is allowing too much current to pass through wires that are too small would be under protecting the wires... no?

as;

An overcurrent device that is allowing too much current to pass through wires that are too small would be under protecting the wires……or…… it would now be an undercurrent protective device.

Forgive me as I had trouble typing as I have laughed so hard that I am crying and it is hard to see what I am doing.

Please don’t be offended by my sick sense of humor and it is a good question, just one that I wasn’t expecting.
I have always thought of something that is “over protecting” a conductor as being to large for the conductor.