How many watts can a 13 amp line handle

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Hi all ..

I live in one of the modern crop of crap apartments with precast concrete walls with concealed in wall wiring. So if any wire burns, then it will be a outright nightmare to renew it, and will include ripping the false ceiling off.

My small room originally came with a 10 amp breaker at the mains. And when I had a class A amp with 380 Watts of continuous power draw, sometimes it used to trip the room's breaker upon switching on. Subsequently, I got the breaker replaced with a 13 amp one, and the tripping stopped. At that time, I had asked the electrician to replace with a 20 amp breaker. But we were not sure if the noodle sized in wall wiring could handle it. So I expect, that iam stuck with a 13 amp line for now.

Considering the above limitation, how many watts of electrical load can I put in my room without hopefully burning the wiring. Thanks

 

[bornfi]

Hi all ..

I live in one of the modern crop of crap apartments with precast concrete walls with concealed in wall wiring. So if any wire burns, then it will be a outright nightmare to renew it, and will include ripping the false ceiling off.

My small room originally came with a 10 amp breaker at the mains. And when I had a class A amp with 380 Watts of continuous power draw, sometimes it used to trip the room's breaker upon switching on. Subsequently, I got the breaker replaced with a 13 amp one, and the tripping stopped. At that time, I had asked the electrician to replace with a 20 amp breaker. But we were not sure if the noodle sized in wall wiring could handle it. So I expect, that iam stuck with a 13 amp line for now.

Considering the above limitation, how many watts of electrical load can I put in my room without hopefully burning the wiring. Thanks

Assuming that wire is 10awg or thick, 13x220 = 2860W

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Assuming that wire is 10awg or thick, 13x220 = 2860W

Wow.. Thanks a ton for your prompt reply @bornfi

P. S : is there someway to verify if the wiring is actually 10 awg please.

 

[mbhangui]

Wow.. Thanks a ton for your prompt reply @bornfi

P. S : is there someway to verify if the wiring is actually 10 awg please.

Check the diameter of the bare exposed wire. Is it around 2.5mm. You can take a small ruler and measure the dia.

Here is a conversion chart

AWG - American Wire Gauge Converting Chart

American Wire Gauge (AWG) vs. cross sectional area converter.

www.engineeringtoolbox.com

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Check the diameter of the bare exposed wire. Is it around 2.5mm. You can take a small ruler and measure the dia.

Here is a conversion chart

AWG - American Wire Gauge Converting Chart

American Wire Gauge (AWG) vs. cross sectional area converter.

www.engineeringtoolbox.com

Thanks sir .. Will do so. I was Infact expecting a reply from your goodselves.

 

[bornfi]

I forgot to add that a malfunctioning MCB can trip for no *reason. That does not mean that your amplifier is sucking power more than your apartment can afford. What amplifier is it or was, if I may know?

*Actually, the items with transformers have something called in-rush current that is way more than what your amp is rated for. When MCB gets old/becomes faulty, it fails to handle in-rush current and trips. There could be other reasons too but this is something I have experienced. Changing MCB solved the issue.

You can get something like this and measure the actual wattage after the whole system is set up. https://www.amazon.in/Meco-Metering...d=1683120352&sprefix=wattmeter,aps,204&sr=8-5