Question PSU is tripping the breaker?

Poog

Reputable
May 23, 2019
14
0
4,510
Hi, I fairly recently upgraded my RTX 2070 R5 3600x to a 3090 ti and 5900x with a Corsair RM1000x PSU and now my AFCI breaker keeps on tripping in my room even when playing games that don't require a lot of power.

My previous system never tripped the breaker, even when I had my ps5 and TV on. Now, I can only have my computer and my 2 monitors plugged in and launch a game, lets say Minecraft, and the breaker would trip after maybe ~10 minutes of playing. But I can run furmark for around 20 minutes and my GPU can draw 450 watts consistently and the breaker will not trip. I have tried it in other rooms and it does not trip at all. I live with my parents and they say that my room shouldn't be connected to any other parts of the house. I have started leaning towards maybe my PSU could be bad, but why would it work in other rooms? Or it could be a house issue and I need to call an electrician?
I have a Kill-A-Watt power meter being delivered tomorrow and hoping that gives me a little more insight on what is happening, but for right now none of this makes sense to me.
Any sort of reply or insight on what my problem may be would be GREATLY appreciated, I don't want to fry my system because this keeps going on.
 
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Circuit breakers actually can wear out from too much use/trips. They trip much easier under much less load as they wear out.
I have replaced a couple. The power panel is dangerous but you can save a lot of money if you can swap out the breaker yourself.
 

KyaraM

Admirable
From how it sounds (tripping in your room, but not others), it sounds more like a bad breaker than a bad PSU, and thus this would be a case for an electrician who has to look at the wiring in your room and the breaker in question. I personally would NOT recommend doing this yourself! A couple bucks aren't worth risking your life.
 
Your upgrades increased the power requirements for your pc a bit.
Perhaps enough to cause an issue.

Are there any other active electrical components plugged into other outlets on the same circuit?

AFCI breakers will come with differing Amp capabilities.
Say 15 or 20 amps.
Look in your fuse box to see what your room circuit has.
See if the breakers for the rooms that work are perhaps higher.

It might be useful to verify that your outlet is wired/grounded properly.
Something like this tester is <$110:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-Rec...24383-_-local-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gclsrc=ds

Ultimately, an electrician may be needed to sort this out.
 

Poog

Reputable
May 23, 2019
14
0
4,510
Your upgrades increased the power requirements for your pc a bit.
Perhaps enough to cause an issue.

Are there any other active electrical components plugged into other outlets on the same circuit?

AFCI breakers will come with differing Amp capabilities.
Say 15 or 20 amps.
Look in your fuse box to see what your room circuit has.
See if the breakers for the rooms that work are perhaps higher.

It might be useful to verify that your outlet is wired/grounded properly.
Something like this tester is <$110:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-Rec...24383-_-local-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gclsrc=ds

Ultimately, an electrician may be needed to sort this out.
Hi, I want to thank you and everyone who has responded. My breaker is 15 amps, I tried it into a room that has the same exact breaker as mine and there were no issues. I have a surge protector that holds both my monitors, computer, TV and PS5 (neither of those are turned on). I want to know how accurate the "grounded" indicator on my surge protector is, because that indicator does not light up no matter what outlet I plug it into on my circuit, I plug it into other circuits similar to mine and it says that it is grounded. Could a non-grounded outlet be a cause for my trips?
 
It might be correct it likely is just testing between the neutral and the ground. They are actually connected in the power panel so they should have very similar resistance. There are simple plug in outlet testers that can do this also.

It is much more concerning that you have no ground and you are tripping the breaker. This might indicate a serious wiring issue. Could be there are wires loose/disconnected in some outlet box as the cables go back to the breaker.
The lack of a ground will not directly trip a breaker. The ground is a safety connection to protect you from faulty equipment.

Not something I would recommend you mess with. Then again I learned how to fix stuff like this when I was younger and more stupid but didn't have the money to hire someone.
 

Poog

Reputable
May 23, 2019
14
0
4,510
It might be correct it likely is just testing between the neutral and the ground. They are actually connected in the power panel so they should have very similar resistance. There are simple plug in outlet testers that can do this also.

It is much more concerning that you have no ground and you are tripping the breaker. This might indicate a serious wiring issue. Could be there are wires loose/disconnected in some outlet box as the cables go back to the breaker.
The lack of a ground will not directly trip a breaker. The ground is a safety connection to protect you from faulty equipment.

Not something I would recommend you mess with. Then again I learned how to fix stuff like this when I was younger and more stupid but didn't have the money to hire someone.
I mean I don't own the home I live in, like I said I live with my parents, and when bringing the issue up I was told that I am just simply overloading the circuit and they won't let me or anyone else try to fix it. I was thinking about running an extension cord from a different circuit into mine would that work or would that also be incredibly unsafe?
 
I moved to Arizona and the bedrooms had them fancy pants AFCI breakers for the bedrooms and livingroom, I had a Lenovo m65 mini on the bedroom circuit tripping the breaker, its like a 65 watt system, but my i7 5960x system with dual GTX 1070s with a 1300 watt PSU never did. I ended up removing all of the AFCI breakers and replaced them with standard breakers, you might have to call an electrician if thats the case, other wise you will have to find a different circuit less sensitive.

Thing was the house I moved to wasn't even a year old, I even replaced the AFCI breaker with a new one, sometimes you get new bad stuff, didn't fix it unless I used a standard breaker, I had a similar issue here int he house I moved to in Ohio, the house is 10 years old but breakers are up to date and most rooms are AFCI, Again I had to pull the breakers and replace them with the standard style on the system in my sig, thing is I rent so I just threw the old breakers back inside the box so when I move I can put them back.

Not entirely sure what causes them to trip, but in both my cases, it wasn't because they were old and worn and everything is wired correctly, and on 2 different systems, I also ran into a UPS I had on my modem and router cause the circuit to trip, and whats funny, I can't be the only one, Im just surprised its not more common.