[SOLVED] Electrical Problem

[zorrodude]

So I recently rearranged my computer room in my apartment. Before I had all my peripherals (3 monitors, speakers, lights, mixer) and my PC all plugged into 2 different outlets. Now on one surge protector I have my 3 monitors, speakers, mixer, PC, printer, router, and modem. I also upgraded my GPU from a 1080 strix to a 3080 strix. My PSU is 750w.

Twice now I have tripped a circuit breaker when playing games. I have never had that happened before in the 4 years of living in this apartment. Is it possible since my 3080 draws more power than my 1080 and that it's too much for my circuit? Or can having too many things on one outlet trip my breaker? My knowledge with electricity is 0 and the maintenance at my apartment sucks so I can't ask them.

 

[USAFRet]

Now on one surge protector I have ....

Probably too much for ONE surge protector. Or even one wall outlet and circuit breaker.
Is this a laser printer?

 

[zorrodude]

Probably too much for ONE surge protector. Or even one wall outlet and circuit breaker.
Is this a laser printer?

Nah it's just an inkjet, which I had turned off in a low power state anyway.

 

[carocuore]

Must be a looong strip you're using to have all that plugged into it.
A 3080 definitely uses more power than a 1080.

Depends on where you live, what kind of outlets you have and how are those wired, there are different voltages and ways (standalone, ring, daisy chain, etc) used to create a room circuit , if you're american you probably use 120 or 127 volts and outlets, as far as I know, are rated up to 15 amps or 1800 watts.
Find out how much your devices use, there's usually written on a sticker on the back of the monitor or in a label, do the math.
The power supply isn't constantly delivering all 750W, let's say it uses 7 or 7 1/2 amps (at 120 volts)

It's not about having too much things plugged into the same strip but about how much current each draws from the wall.

 

[zorrodude]

Must be a looong strip you're using to have all that plugged into it.
A 3080 definitely uses more power than a 1080.

Depends on where you live, what kind of outlets you have and how are those wired, there are different voltages and ways (standalone, ring, daisy chain, etc) used to create a room circuit , if you're american you probably use 120 or 127 volts and outlets, as far as I know, are rated up to 15 amps or 1800 watts.
Find out how much your devices use, there's usually written on a sticker on the back of the monitor or in a label, do the math.
The power supply isn't constantly delivering all 750W, let's say it uses 7 or 7 1/2 amps (at 120 volts)

It's not about having too much things plugged into the same strip but about how much current each draws from the wall.

So my understanding is won't matter if I plug my computer into a different outlet in the same room if they're all on the same breaker anyway?

 

[USAFRet]

So my understanding is won't matter if I plug my computer into a different outlet in the same room if they're all on the same breaker anyway?

maybe, maybe not.

In a single room in an apartment, probably. Same circuit breaker.

 

[AdamG]

Plug the tower into its own outlet on a different wall, or the other appliances onto another outlet on a different wall. Last 2 places I've lived switching walls solved tripping breakers with appliances. In old residence, I would trip breaker with 500w air conditioner & 650w lights plugged into one outlet, but moving the lights to separate outlet in same room on different wall avoided tripping breaker. I've tripped breaker at current residence with new air conditioner 1,000w and PC plugged into same wall, switching wall for air conditioner avoided that issue aswell.

 

[Paperdoc]

If your problem was a trip of the switch on the POWER BAR, then that would say your problem is an overload there. BUT you say the item that trips is a CIRCUIT BREAKER, which I assume is in a breaker panel somewhere. So you are overloading a wall circuit, not the power bar.

Get a small lamp or something ready. Go around your room and verify tht all outlets have power. Then the next time the breaker trips, BEFORE re-setting the breaker go around again and find out where there's a wall outlet that still has power. Switch some of your load to that outlet, then re-set. Alternatively, identify OTHER items on the circuit that is "dead", and re-connect one or more of those to the live outlets before re-setting.

 

[scout_03]

use something like this faster for testing he outlet https://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instr...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

[Paperdoc]

That tester is great for ensuring that an outlet is wired exactly correctly, and for verifying that is is "live". It cannot tell you what the electrical load on the circuit is, though. The symptoms OP reports suggest overloading of a normal circuit, not likely a poor installation or connection of the circuit.

IF OP actually wants to measure the load his system is pulling from the wall outlet, this is the device for that.

https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Ele...1612207227&s=hi&sprefix=kill,tools,194&sr=1-4

It can measure the power (in Watts, or Amps) drawn by the device plugged into it. It can NOT tell you the TOTAL power being drawn from the entire wall circuit (fed by one breaker from the panel) that includes other devices plugged into other outlets on the same circuit.

 

[carocuore]

So my understanding is won't matter if I plug my computer into a different outlet in the same room if they're all on the same breaker anyway?

Well, what USAFRet said.
If all of the outlets are daisy chained and go into the same breaker then it won't matter which one you use as the load on that breaker will remain the same, it's made to trip whenever it hits (just a guess) 15 amps because the wire isn't thick enough to handle more current.
But you could try using 2 outlets, it's your room after all.

I have everything on a strip that goes into a single outlet but where I live is 240V and 20A so about 4800 watts, in case you want to plug a heater or portable A/C

 

[zorrodude]

Today I went back to my old setup which was dividing my plugins between 2 outlets (one on each wall in same room) and also undervolted my GPU. I played some games for an hour or two and didn't trip the breaker so hopefully things remain fine. If not I may swap my gpu back to the old one and see what happens.