How to wire qo220 circuit breaker - Square D Co. QO220 Circuit Breaker

Hi - I'm an electrican and would like to help.

If the wire you're trying to install on a circuit breaker doesn't fit - then something is wrong. Typically, circuits are designed around the amount of voltage and current a product requires. The voltage determines the combination of material & thickness of the insulation on the wire and the the amount of current (in amps) determines the size of the conductor or wire. The appropriate circuit protection (fuse or circuit breaker) is selected to protect the circuit from trying to deliver more current than the product requires (in the case of a fault, etc.) which would cause the wire to over heat and potentially cause a fire. So, if the product requires (for simplicity) 120 volts and 20 amps, a wire is selected with the proper insulation for 120 volts or more and conductor sized to carry no less than 20 amps. Aluminum and copper is expensive, so providing larger sizes than needed is a waste of resources and money. A #12 copper wire is suitable for this amount of amps. A circuit breaker rated for 20 amps is chosen. A 20 amp circuit breaker must be able to accept a wire capable of 20 amps - other wise it's not really a 20 amp circuit breaker. Most circuit breakers are designed to accept LARGER wires than needed - because often times circuits will need a wire that is one or two sizes larger due to the length of the circuit (how far the product is from the electrical panel).

If you're seeing a circuit breaker that will not accept the wire, the circuit breaker is probably the wrong size (and if you could force the wire in it - it would probably trip instantly when turned on) or someone has made a very expensive blunder when chosing the wire type and size for the circuit.

If the the latter is the case, simply connect a short length of the correct size wire to the oversized wire in an appropriate connector and secure to the circuit breaker terminal screw. otherwise, have a qualified person evaluate the situation. Be smart. Be safe.

Yes, it is fine to put two wires on the output of a circuit breaker, but the wire sizes should each be suitable for the breaker size. That is, don't use two 14 Ga wires on a 20 Amp breaker assuming they will share the load. Each wire must be suitable for the full load the breaker will allow.

Copy following link to determine correct wire and circuit breaker size:
http://waterheatertimer.org/Color-codewire.html
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-replace-circuit-breaker.html

Be sure to match wire size and breaker amp rating so breaker will trip when heat on wire reaches trip point.
Undersized breaker, or undersized wire are fire hazard.
Maximum 12 boxes per circuit breaker.

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/gene_9f0ef4df2f9897e7

Copy following link to see basic circuit breaker box.
http://waterheatertimer.org/See-inside-main-breaker-box.html

It appears you are connecting home automation to to breaker box.
Remove one wire from each circuit breaker. Connect this wire to relay. Then run new wire from relay to circuit breaker.
When the relay turns ON, then that will complete circuit to each circuit.
This will work for 240 volt or 120 volt or 277 volt single-phase split phase..

Match wire size and circuit breaker
http://waterheatertimer.org/Color-codewire.html

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/gene_9f0ef4df2f9897e7

Hi,
You hook the black wire under the screw in the circuit breaker and tighten it down...
Then hook the white and the bare ground wires to the neutral bar in the breaker panel...

It is usually easier to fasten the black wire into the breaker before placing it into the box...place the back or wire end of the breaker under the tab first and then rock the breker into the box and firmly push it onto the bar

heatman101

Manual override should turn lights ON-OFF even if timer has gone bad.
It sounds like problem is electrical.

Suspect line-up:
Test that timer is getting electricity from breaker.
Burned out bulb. Change bulbs. Spray WD-40 on bulb threads before installing bulb.
Outdoor wiring can go bad easily, outdoor bulb sockets become dirty and stop functioning.
Loose wire between breaker and timer -or- between timer and lights.
Loose wire inside timer box. Tighten screws.
Loose wire on circuit breaker. Tighten screw on circuit breaker.
Tripped circuit breaker: click circuit breaker all the way one direction and then all the way back other direction.
Bad circuit breaker. Move wire from one breaker to another same-size breaker.
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-replace-circuit-breaker.html

Add a comment for more free help.
Also take advantage of fixya phone service.
For a price, expert speaks with you over phone while you work on circuit or any do-it-yourself project.
Fixya is always less expensive than a service call.

Don't forget this is a 240v appliance so it must be fed from a 240v circuit breaker. Once you have a 240v circuit breaker you need to run 12/3 wire with ground from circuit breaker to a box near your fixture. The 12/3 wire with ground will have; 1 black, 1 white, 1 red and a bare ground wire. With the circuit breaker OFF, hook the wires up respectively to the same colors and ground the bare wires togather with a green ground screw in the box. Turn circuit breaker on.

To be very safe, turn OFF your Main circuit breaker prior to doing this. This IS really important! You asked how to hook up the breaker, so I'm going to assume you already installed this. The first wire that you'll want to land under a screw is your ground (green) wire. This wire should be where all your ground/green wires are. Next, you're going to bring your white (neutral) wire to the neutral bar.  You should see other white wire's terminated (attached under screws) there. Then, bring your colored (ie usually a black or red) wire and attach it to your circuit breaker. Make sure that you are using a #10 guage wire. This wire guage is rated for 30 amps. If you're using a 20 amp circuit breaker, then use a #12 guage wire. And a #14 guage wire for 15 amp circuit breaker. Using these wire guages satisfy all electrical requirements (codes). Now, leave the circuit breaker in the OFF position, and close up your panel. After closing it, then turn ON your Main circuit breaker. If everything is fine, great! Before you turn on your circuit breaker, make sure the switch, device, receptacle (unplugged), is OFF. Then go to your electric panel and turn ON the circuit breaker. If the breaker holds (doesn't trip), then try your switch, device, or receptacle to see if everything works. One last thing to remember is, if you're using a 30 amp circuit breaker, then the device on the other end should only draw up to 24 amps. Meaning, don't put a 30 amp cir. brkr. on a 20 amp recectacle, switch, or device. For a 20 amp cir. brkr., 16 amps is the maximum load you can put on this. I hope this helps you. Just read it through once, and then highlight the main parts of this and you should do fine. Good Luck, and feel free to contact me if you'd like further assistance. - Jim

Typically, a standard electric dryer is 30A 240V unless it is natural gas. If the wire is #10awg then you can put a 30A circuit breaker on it. If the wire is #12awg then you DO NOT want to put a larger circuit breaker on it or it over heat the wiring in the wall. If it was a short in the wiring the circuit breaker would trip immediately even with out the dryer plugged in. If it was a grounding problem the circuit breaker would not trip at all, it would just electrify the dryer chasis. It sounds like it is an over current problem, drawing more than 20 amps through the circuit breaker, or like the dryer has an internal problem that is causing the circuit breaker to trip.

It's possible that the first breaker that you said does not trip - it could be that breaker is failing to trip on a bad circuit. That is, it could be you have a bad circuit but that first breaker is not detecting it and pretends everything is OK. If your new breaker trips on the first breaker's circuit, the curcuit it probably bad and the breaker in not working properly. The most common problem for failed circuits is a stray ground wire in a box somewhere in the curcuit resting against a hot or neutral wire. You'll have to take apart every connection on that curcuit to find it. Not fun.