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A series circuit. Turning off the light interrupted the only path for electricity to the hair dryer.

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Q: If turning off a light caused your hair dryer to shut off what type of circuit is being used?
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When you turn off the switch of a blow dryer does that create a series circuit?

No, it opens the circuit so that no current flows.


What appliances are connected to double circuit breakers used in the distribution panel?

240V appliances, such as range, dryer, air conditioner.


Why circuit breakers do not trip even though there is a fault?

1. Maybe you are using more than you think. Hair dryers really suck a lot of juice. 2. You may have a low-amp breaker with a lot of outlets wired to it. 3. It really depends on how many amps are being pulled vs how many amps the breaker can handle. What you need to do is identify every light and outlet that is wired to that breaker. Next time the breaker trips, leave it off and start figuring this out. Identify every light that is no longer working. Then carry a lamp (better yet, a night-light) around your house and try it in every outlet, identifying the ones that don't work. Before you flip the breaker switch, look at the switch. It should tell you how many amps it can handle before it trips. Overhead light fixture generally suck about 2-3 amps. A celing fan another 2-3 (a combination ceiling fan with light kit, around 5). Add up all the fixtures you identified as being on that circuit, and that's how many amps you are pulling, even when nothing is plugged into an outlet on that circuit. Now, a general rule in electrical wiring is that you're not supposed to have fixtures and outlets on the same circuit. I don't think there's any real danger in doing that, but it just kind of makes it easier to keep everything organized. So it may or may not be true in your house. So you may not have any fixtures at all on the circuit. If you don't, then ignore the lights and ceiling fans. Your load on that circuit is whatever appliances you have plugged in and running at the time. If you DO have fixtures on the circuit, then you can add the amps from those fixtures. Growing up, I lived in a house where the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room were all on the same circuit. That circuit must have been a huge number of amps to support all that. But nevertheless, if you turned on the hair dryer while the clothes dryer and bathroom vent were both on, it tripped the breaker every time. And the lights went out in all three rooms. Solutions? Well, if turning on your hair dryer is what causes the breaker to trip, you can try drying your hair when other things on that circuit are not operating. Or just plug your hair dryer in to an outlet that is not on that breaker. That's the easiest thing to do. You might also think about putting a bigger (more amps) breaker on that circuit in your breaker box (I suggest you don't do this yourself - hire an electrician). Another option is to change some of the outlets and/or fixtures to another circuit, one that doesnt have as much load on it. This will require some re-wiring, which, with a little bit of knowledge, you can do yourself. But if you are not comfortable with that, then again, hire an electrician. Overhead fixtures aren't so bad because the wiring is usually up in your attic. You just need to identify which wires are on which circuits and divert another circuit to include your fixtures. Also, you need to make sure that the old circuit is still continuous (if there was a fixture in between the breaker and an outlet, or between two outlets, and you took that fixture off the circuit, then you have to complete the circuit between the breaker and outlet, or between the two outlets, directly - make sense?). The thing that you have to keep in mind is that, while you are decreasing the load on one circuit, you are increasing the load on the other circuit, and you don't want to put so much on the other circuit that it starts to trip. Oh one warning. Anything that draw a LOT of amps, like a hair dryer or clothes dryer or chop saw, should never be plugged into any outlet that is on the same circuit with electronic devices (TVs, stereos, computers, DVD players). Even if it doesn't trip the breaker (a potential disaster for some electronics), the current change created by turning the high-amp appliance on and off can damage the sensitive components of such electronics. So-called "surge protectors" are not sufficient for protecting your electronic equipment from this - they only protect against minor fluctuations caused by slight changes in the current coming into your house.


What municipal codes in Illinois allow PVC to be used for clothes dryer vent duct?

I don't know about Illinois but check the Fuel Gas Code. I have never heard of PVC being allowed for a Clothes Dryer Vent.


Why the electrical dryer can't turn on?

You need to find out if the problem is internal or external. A repair person would check to see if power were getting to the dryer with a volt meter. If there were no power at plug the problem could be a tripped breaker or an open wire. If there was power to the dryer there could be a separate dryer reset button on the unit. Check your manual. Otherwise, you would have to check for internal wiring problems. Look for black areas around wiring or components where some type of electrical problem caused an open circuit. You basically have only three main things that can be bad, the motor that spins the drum, the control unit and the heat producer (gas or electric). Also look for an interlock switch on the door if the controller seems to be okay, but the unit won't spin the drum. The more information you can give in a case like this, the more targeted the answer can be.

Related questions

Can you convert a gas dryer 120V hookup to an electric dryer 240V hookup?

Chances are there is more than 1 outlet connected to the 110volt circuit you are looking to convert. So therefore the easy answer is No. The 240volt dryer circuit must be a dedicated single circuit for the dryer only.


What can you do if you're newly installed dryer keeps tripping the electrical panel repeatadly and it also trips the GFI in the Garage at the same time?

If the GFI that is tripping is a different circuit, there is electrical leakage between the circuit the GFI is controlling, and the dryer circuit. It is possible that there is some cross wiring in the electrical box. I would strongly recommend getting a licensed electrician to look at it, preferably before you have a fire. If the GFI is the same circuit as the one where the dryer is plugged in, you might want to have the dryer checked for leakage to ground. You should also check the dryer circuit's rating against the rating of the breaker in its circuit. A dryer typically takes 30A on usually a single two-gang breaker; if you have a larger dryer that pulls, say, 45A, a 30A breaker will always pop. It sounds to me like a bad electrician has, instead of buying a proper two-gang 30-A breaker, installed your dryer across two circuits, one being the garage GFI circuit; the dryer, because it pulls 220V, pulls an unbalanced load across the GFI and triggers it, and the other circuit breaker is triggered because it loses the extra power provided through the GFI. I cannot emphasize this enough: get this checked out and fixed. Now. Before you get a house fire.


Can you run two laundry dryers on one 220 circuit?

No you can only have one dryer on a 240v circuit and nothing else can be attached to it either considering your using a 240v electric dryer


Kenmore series 80 dryer not turning?

There are many reasons a dryer is not turning on. First make sure the plug has not gotten loose and check the breaker. If it was neither of those call a repair man.


Where is the double 30 amp breaker in an electric dryer?

It should be in the main circuit panel. If the dryer was added at some point there may be a separate box just for the dryer either beside the main panel or at the dryer plug. It is not in the dryer itself.


When you turn off the switch of a blow dryer does that create a series circuit?

No, it opens the circuit so that no current flows.


How to Dryer plug wire colours for 4 wire?

Dryer Circuit Wiring and Hookup Check related link below. Lots of pictures.


Does electric dryer get damaged by short circuit in socket?

The fuse is there to disconnect the supply when there is a short circuit, before any damage is done.


Can you hook up a 240V circuit in series to a dryer and electric range?

The short answer is no. First off I assume you mean "can you have a dryer and an electric range on the same circuit?" (If they were actually wired in series, then you couldn't use your range if the dryer was off) In theory you could have them on the same circuit you just need to make sure that the wiring and the circuit they are on can handle the number of amps the two of them could draw together. If your breaker isn't big enough, it kill the power to the range while you are cooking dinner. If the wiring can't handle the load, then there is a fire risk. A dryer is usually on a 30amp circuit and a range is usually on a 50amp circuit, so to have them together would require an 80amp circuit, which will be difficult to find a breaker and wiring for.


How do you know if clothes dryer is hard wired?

Hard wired means that there is no plug and receptacle in the circuit powering the dryer. What you will find is a metal jacketed cable that will come out of the wall or floor and go right into the dryer.


What percentage of house fires are caused by dryer vents?

90% clean your dryer vents,repair any torn screens!


The load in an electric blow dryer is?

depends on the wattage of the hair dryer. most are 1250 to 1600 watts so a 20 amp gfci circuit would be able to carry the load of a standard hair dryer.