KD4UPL wrote:
I'm an electrical contractor. I don't know of any "federal laws" about breakers. Electrical installations are generally governed by the local city or county building department. Usually they inspect according to the National Electric Code. This is not a federal code but just the name of the code. Adopting it is voluntary and usually done on the state level.
At any rate, there have been no changes to make breakers trip "easier". A 30 amp breaker is supposed to trip when more than 30 amps flows thru it. Time will always be a factor here. 31 amps might not trip it for several hours while 100 amps should trip it really quick. This is more a function of the breaker's design and varies among manufacturers a bit.
I suppose it's possible he might have had Federal Pacific breakers before and now has something else installed. Federal Pacific breakers were very popular in the 70's and 80's until it was discovered they were faking the UL listing and printing their own labels. They got sued and went bankrupt. Their breakers sometimes didn't trip at all. If he used to have those and now has good breakers that might explain his comment.
I'm pretty sure he would have been referring to local building codes, and the issue may be the Combination Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (CAFCI) breakers that are now required in some municipalities. They are required where we live in Ohio and they can cause problems. Plasma televisions are known to trip them, and in our house, we cannot plug our vacuum cleaner in the outlet in one bedroom because it will trip the circuit. If they are required here in the campground, it could be part of the problem. In all fairness to the owner, he has built a very nice facility that gets very high ratings. And, if the CAFCI breakers are required here, they very well may be more prone to trip.
