Electrical Gremlins

[nkesport]

Wondering if any of you have had a similar issue. I have a high-powered gaming PC setup in my new house connected to a CyberPower UPS. The way the house is wired is interesting. Both guest bedrooms are connected to a single 15-Amp AFCI breaker with a built in test button in the breaker box. 

 

Anyways, I've been using my computer for several days without issue while I continue to get things setup in the house. Last night, I tried gaming on it for the first time since moving. Shortly after finishing the benchmark and starting to play a new game I got, my UPS started beeping at me. Looking down at the display on the UPS, and its sending indications that there is no power input and the computer was operating off the battery backup (thank god I got a UPS). After some testing with the lights and fans (which it turns out were on a different breaker), I decided to shut down the computer and perform a breaker reset. That fixed the problem.

 

Now, a 15 Amp breaker should be good for 1650 Watts, which I would never exceed on this machine or any of the peripherals I've attached. I'm thinking it must have something to do with the AFCI sensor seeing a spike somewhere and protecting itself. I've called my landlord to see if he can get an electrician, but I can't think of why this would be occurring or how to fix it. Any ideas?

[Electronics Wizardy]

about what year was your house made?

 

Could be bad house wiring.

[nkesport]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

about what year was your house made?

 

Could be bad house wiring.

House was made in 2009. I agree, maybe something is jacked up with the wiring in the house. I called my landlord and let him know about the breakers tripping. I'm hoping it's just the breaker itself starting to go bad. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, nkesport said:

House was made in 2009. I agree, maybe something is jacked up with the wiring in the house. I called my landlord and let him know about the breakers tripping. I'm hoping it's just the breaker itself starting to go bad. 

My guess is more stuff running on the circuit than you realize. You can easily have things like lights and appliances running on the same breaker as your pc.

[nkesport]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

My guess is more stuff running on the circuit than you realize. You can easily have things like lights and appliances running on the same breaker as your pc.

It is possible, but there is a separate breaker specifically assigned to lighting and fans for the house. Also, I'm still waiting on everything to arrive from the movers, so at this point the only thing plugged into the wall in either of the rooms assigned to that breaker is my computer. I could always try to move my computer to another room however and other outlets.

 

Is it possible, that just this stretch of wire may be slightly damaged?

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, nkesport said:

It is possible, but there is a separate breaker specifically assigned to lighting and fans for the house. Also, I'm still waiting on everything to arrive from the movers, so at this point the only thing plugged into the wall in either of the rooms assigned to that breaker is my computer. I could always try to move my computer to another room however and other outlets.

 

Is it possible, that just this stretch of wire may be slightly damaged?

Could be, but assuming your done have a crazy high power computer(single cpu, single gpu) talk to your landlord and get a electrician out

[nkesport]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Could be, but assuming your done have a crazy high power computer(single cpu, single gpu) talk to your landlord and get a electrician out

Electronics Wizardy,

 

Appreciate it man. It's just a single CPU (8700K) and GPU (1080 Ti FTW3). I'll get in touch with an electrician and update you on his findings. 

[W-L]

27 minutes ago, nkesport said:

-SNIP-

AFCI breakers are somewhat finicky from what I've experienced, they sometimes can be oversensitive and cause false triggering. I've had occurrences such as this before where  I was well under the 15amps load with multiple false positives. 

 

The best situations is that something is causing the triggering so try your best to isolate the situation by removing all devices plugged into that breaker other than your computer. If there is nothing that triggers it most likely it was a device you unplugged from that circuit. 

[nkesport]

46 minutes ago, W-L said:

AFCI breakers are somewhat finicky from what I've experienced, they sometimes can be oversensitive and cause false triggering. I've had occurrences such as this before where  I was well under the 15amps load with multiple false positives. 

 

The best situations is that something is causing the triggering so try your best to isolate the situation by removing all devices plugged into that breaker other than your computer. If there is nothing that triggers it most likely it was a device you unplugged from that circuit. 

W-L,

 

It's definitely my computer that is causing the issue. I just moved into the house and this particular breaker powers the outlets in both guest rooms. The computer, monitor, and computer speakers are the only devices that are plugged in. When using the computer for normal use such as watching videos or surfing the internet, no issues are encountered. However, whenever I load up a game, or perform video editing, the breaker will trip after about 5min.

 

I'm just glad I bought a UPS, as it instantly takes over every time this happens. I've called my landlord and they are sending out an electrician. I'll keep you updated!

[W-L]

1 minute ago, nkesport said:

W-L,

 

It's definitely my computer that is causing the issue. I just moved into the house and this particular breaker powers the outlets in both guest rooms. The computer, monitor, and computer speakers are the only devices that are plugged in. When using the computer for normal use such as watching videos or surfing the internet, no issues are encountered. However, whenever I load up a game, or perform video editing, the breaker will trip after about 5min.

 

I'm just glad I bought a UPS, as it instantly takes over every time this happens. I've called my landlord and they are sending out an electrician. I'll keep you updated!

Hmm sounds almost like it's being overloaded than the AFCI breaker but in that case might as well wait and see what they say, if nothing else doesn't hurt to have the breaker changed to eliminate variables.

[nkesport]

Just now, W-L said:

Hmm sounds almost like it's being overloaded than the AFCI breaker but in that case might as well wait and see what they say, if nothing else doesn't hurt to have the breaker changed to eliminate variables.

That's interesting though. Even though it's a 15-Amp breaker, a computer shouldn't be overloading it should it? If need be I can move my computer to another room with a 20-Amp, but I'd rather not if I don't have too. My desk takes up a lot of space lol. 

 

I"m crossing my fingers that the AFCI breaker is going bad. It probably won't be the case and he may need to up it to a 20-Amp AFCI. 

[W-L]

1 minute ago, nkesport said:

That's interesting though. Even though it's a 15-Amp breaker, a computer shouldn't be overloading it should it? If need be I can move my computer to another room with a 20-Amp, but I'd rather not if I don't have too. My desk takes up a lot of space lol. 

 

I"m crossing my fingers that the AFCI breaker is going bad. It probably won't be the case and he may need to up it to a 20-Amp AFCI. 

You can't do that the wire usually is only rated for 15amps you risk and electrical fire if you change the breaker to a larger unit but not the cabling. It sounds like something may be causing a higher than normal leakage to ground that is causing the triggering, could be a PSU or some other peripheral it's somewhat hard to test for other than changing stuff out. 

[nkesport]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

You can't do that the wire usually is only rated for 15amps you risk and electrical fire if you change the breaker to a larger unit but not the cabling. It sounds like something may be causing a higher than normal leakage to ground that is causing the triggering, could be a PSU or some other peripheral it's somewhat hard to test for other than changing stuff out. 

Oh, good to know. As for the leakage to ground as you call it, I did just drive 1,100 miles across the US to my new place with my computer in my car. Granted, it was in the original packaging, but perhaps one of the PSU cables got loose. I'll have to check to make sure all connections are solid. 

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, nkesport said:

Oh, good to know. As for the leakage to ground as you call it, I did just drive 1,100 miles across the US to my new place with my computer in my car. Granted, it was in the original packaging, but perhaps one of the PSU cables got loose. I'll have to check to make sure all connections are solid. 

Doesn't hurt to check but it would be on the AC side of things that cause leakage. 

[nkesport]

6 minutes ago, W-L said:

Doesn't hurt to check but it would be on the AC side of things that cause leakage. 

I won't pretend to be anywhere near an expert. But in that case,

 

Wouldn't that limit potential problem areas to my PSU, computer monitor, the UPS, and the in wall wiring/breaker?

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, nkesport said:

In that case,

That would limit the issues to my PSU, my Computer Monitor, and the UPS itself correct?

Yes that would mainly be the culprit other than the breaker or wiring itself, I would wait and see what the electrician says. If he can't determine the root cause then you can try doing some testing via by removing a device from that circuit and place it onto another to test the PC until the problem stops. 

[nkesport]

Just now, W-L said:

Yes that would mainly be the culprit other than the breaker or wiring itself, I would wait and see what the electrician says. If he can't determine the root cause then you can try doing some testing via by removing a device from that circuit and place it onto another to test the PC until the problem stops. 

Great idea. Something that I haven't tried is moving my computer to the master bedroom, which is on it's on AFCI breaker. If the issue still persists, I may have damaged the PSU or UPS during the move. 

[nkesport]

I wanted to thank both of you for helping me today! I'll let you know what the electrician says. 

[TetraSky]

Are you 100% sure that this breaker is only the two bedrooms? Is there anything plugged in, in the other room or in your room, that consume power and is connected to this specific breaker?
If not, could be a faulty breaker. I once had a breaker that would just flip itself off whenever, at random. Replaced it, everything worked flawlessly after that.

Could also be wiring that was eaten by rats or was drilled/nailed into by mistake... But I doubt that, you'd most likely have either lost power entirely by now or seen the house burned down.

 

I doubt it's your PSU or UPS, those don't just suddenly break just because you're travelling, and even if they do, they wouldn't break in a way to flip your breaker, your UPS should act as a buffer between the outlet and the PC in the first place, meaning it's highly unlikely that it's the PSU's fault. And the UPS is basically just a battery, so again, unlikely that it is at fault.

It's more likely that the breaker is faulty or that there's more stuff plugged onto it, like a fridge, microwave, portable heating unit(this consume a LOT), etc...

[nkesport]

21 hours ago, TetraSky said:

Are you 100% sure that this breaker is only the two bedrooms? Is there anything plugged in, in the other room or in your room, that consume power and is connected to this specific breaker?
If not, could be a faulty breaker. I once had a breaker that would just flip itself off whenever, at random. Replaced it, everything worked flawlessly after that.

Could also be wiring that was eaten by rats or was drilled/nailed into by mistake... But I doubt that, you'd most likely have either lost power entirely by now or seen the house burned down.

 

I doubt it's your PSU or UPS, those don't just suddenly break just because you're travelling, and even if they do, they wouldn't break in a way to flip your breaker, your UPS should act as a buffer between the outlet and the PC in the first place, meaning it's highly unlikely that it's the PSU's fault. And the UPS is basically just a battery, so again, unlikely that it is at fault.

It's more likely that the breaker is faulty or that there's more stuff plugged onto it, like a fridge, microwave, portable heating unit(this consume a LOT), etc...

Tetra,

 

Actually, the electricians came by today and determined it was the AHCI breaker that was faulty, or at least the sensor on it. As the whole house was wired with 12-Gauge wiring, the electricians were able to replace the 15-Amp AHCI breaker with a 20-Amp non-AHCI breaker. That's solved the problems. The electricians were telling me they are always having issues with those new breakers and they tend to degrade over time anyways. 

 

So overall, problem is solved, and my office is all ready for two computers, a laserjet printer, and some other peripherals! Thanks to all three of you for helping me out in this issue.