Close call today , thank god I was home .

[HogHunter34]

Over load should have killed power to the motor. If not, breaker should trip

[Strummer]

Can you elaborate on the cause and what I should look out for? t y

I’m not sure . All I know is lost power to the house . The entire area near me lost power. When I got power back a few minutes later I started smelling smoke . Killed the power to the house . Noticed it coming out of my ac vents . Opened my ac up and the motor was seized up and smoking and getting red. Not sure why it didn’t trip the breaker . If I remember right it is a double 50 amp breaker. Not real sure . Will look tomorrow when I’m back home . At the in laws for the night.

[taltexan]

Power will spike when it is restored. Any weak electrical app. can short out. A/C compressor will be 220 but the condenser depending on emergency heat can be either 110 or 220. Should have separate breakers for both units. Glad you was home!!

We are going thru a brown out as I am writing this. Most of wood county electric service area is involved. Don’t know who else is in this mess.

[sierracharlie338]

Glad you caught it before it got worse!


Sierracharlie out…

[Beleg]

Think I see the problem. Made in China .

Motor nameplate says, Thermally Protected. Guess that didn’t work so well.

Glad you were home.

[Strummer]

Power will spike when it is restored. Any weak electrical app. can short out. A/C compressor will be 220 but the condenser depending on emergency heat can be either 110 or 220. Should have separate breakers for both units. Glad you was home!!

We are going thru a brown out as I am writing this. Most of wood county electric service area is involved. Don’t know who else is in this mess.

It had a double breaker in my breaker box and another one on the double on the unit in the attic . My outside unit had a separate box and breaker.

[double bogey]

Motor nameplate says, Thermally Protected. Guess that didn’t work so well.

Glad you were home.

The thermal probably was open, but it breaks only one leg of power. Motor was probably shorted to ground, therefore causing motor to glow. Even glowing, it wouldn't pull enough current to trip a 50 amp breaker. Thank goodness your furnace was properly grounded, or we would be seeing a different story today.

I have lost more skin getting wheels off of motors than I care to remember.

[airehead]

Wow. Better get that wiring checked, glowing motor should have tripped a breaker!

This the breaker should have tripped as soon as it shorted!!!

So glad you caught it!!!

[cbd10pt]

Wow. Better get that wiring checked, glowing motor should have tripped a breaker!

This

[double bogey]

This the breaker should have tripped as soon as it shorted!!!

So glad you caught it!!!

The breaker wouldn't trip unless it was a ground fault breaker. The small wire in the motor wouldn't let it pull enough current to trip a 50 amp breaker.

The thermal overload is designed to open if the motor gets too hot. It is designed to protect the motor. It most likely breaks one line, allowing the other line to continue to supply current if the motor is shorted to ground. This is why proper grounding is important.

It getting hard to find a motor that is made in the USA. Any of the china built electrical products are crap.

[critter69]

I can’t believe that blower would require a 50 amp circuit. And if it don’t require 50 amp but that is what it’s on, that could be the problem.

[Kingfisher789]

Holy smokes! Opportunity for an upgrade

[Texas Pride]

Nah. No such thing as luck. That's called a blessing.

Amen

[Dusty Britches]

Strummer, I'm glad you are ok and your house is ok. I hope I never experience this.

[double bogey]

I can’t believe that blower would require a 50 amp circuit. And if it don’t require 50 amp but that is what it’s on, that could be the problem.

The blower doesn't require a large circuit, But the electric heater it is part of does. Also, breakers are not designed to protect equipment. They are designed to protect the wiring servicing the equipment. they are designed to trip when the current gets high enough to damage the wires.

That motor probably has a locked rotor current of 10 amps or less. Shorted with power going to part of the winding, it could make it glow while only pulling a couple of amps. If enough current happens, it will burn a wire in the motor.

I bet the motor shorted as the power was failing, or the capacitor failed, causing a locked rotor condition. But it also could have failed when the power spiked when it came back on. Be thankful it didn't get the compressor, although most thermostats have a built in delay after a power outage to help protect the compressor.