Bay breaker pops

[carwash1970]

On one of my self serve bays when you put money in and the time starts the bay breaker on my self serve panel pop for that bay. The timer still counts down but none of the bay fuctions will work. I have never ran into this problem. Were should I start to figure this problem out?

Thanks for any help

 

[Whale of a Wash]

If it is one of those pop up breakers, I've replaced a few, try a new breaker. If is a larger size ,sometimes I've had the motor starter contacts arc a little as they age and it then draws a little more and blows those breakers

 

[carwash1970]

No it is a breaker that flips back and forth.

 

[robtl]

On one of my self serve bays when you put money in and the time starts the bay breaker on my self serve panel pop for that bay. The timer still counts down but none of the bay fuctions will work. I have never ran into this problem. Were should I start to figure this problem out?

Thanks for any help

First thing I would check is to reset breaker and manually push in the motor contactor to see if that kicks the breaker.
Next try with all things ready put the selector knob on a low pressure function and install the correct money and see if the low pressure systems work without going by the high pressure mode.
Does the breaker kick if the timer starts with the knob on the 'OFF' position?
My guess it is in the higher voltage system running the high pressure pump.
Just my .02 cents worth of a guess

 

[ratfink102]

sounds like it is the coil in the contact switch

 

[MEP001]

If it's the main breaker in the electrical panel that is tripping, that means your low-voltage functions are powered separately. Regardless, the only thing that can pull enough amperage to trip a usual 20-amp 3-phase breaker would be the motor or a short in its wiring. You can confirm this by engaging the contactor manually - there's usually a place to push it in to start it. Press it firmly and quickly, and if it trips, disconnect the wiring at the motor. if it no longer trips, your motor is bad. If it still trips, disconnect the wires at the base of the contactor and try again. You could have wires that rubbed through in the conduit that created a dead short.

 

[Champion]

I have found faulty breaker that had to be replaced. Also had one lead wire to the starter that became loose and intermittently sparked and caused the breaker to trip.

 

[JGinther]

Is it a line voltage breaker or a control voltage breaker that is tripping? Since none of your options are working, I am guessing it is a control breaker. I would try the "off" position test Robtl mentioned... If it still trips, it is probably a toasted timer output or possibly the selection switch has grounded out. If it doesn't trip until you switch functions, note which function it is, and it will likely be a shorted coil (solenoid, contactor, or relay).

 

[MEP001]

It sounds like the problem has been found and corrected. A "toasted timer outout" isn't going to cause a motor breaker to trip anyway, plus he said the timer continues to run and count down.

 

[JGinther]

Mep, how do you know that the problem has been corrected? I asked for clarification if the problem is with line voltage or control voltage and have seen no response yet. And, by the way, if a triac or relay output from a timer board is toasted, the rest of the timer can run just fine. And lastly, I would agree with your response if the problem is related to a line voltage breaker tripping, and only posted my response to aid in the case that it was control voltage instead. Besides, what lead me to think it was a control voltage issue is the fact that "none of the bay functions will work."

 

[MEP001]

Mep, how do you know that the problem has been corrected?

One, I never said I know the problem has been fixed. Two, the original poster said he found a bad breaker and a fault in the wiring, which is why I said it sounds like is problem has been fixed. Three, it's pretty obvious that the control voltage isn't an issue since the timer is running.

 

[JGinther]

So user "carwash1970" is the same person as user "Champion?" I didn't know that. And by the way, some equipment manufacturers will isolate control voltage to electronics from control voltage to loads - depends on the manufacturer. I guess we don't need to talk about this though, since the problem sounds like it is fixed.

 

[MEP001]

My mistake, the way the post by Champion read sounded like a problem had been found and corrected, and I didn't scroll back up to see if it was in fact the original poster.