I have some very basic understanding of current, voltage, resistance and that circuit breakers have fuses which blow if a current threshold is surpassed. But I don’t understand how putting multiple devices connected to your wall outlets, especially if they’re connected to the same fuse, would trigger this. Isn’t the voltage allocated to each circuit the same?
In: 1
It’s not the voltage, it’s the amperage load.
Think of it like this:
I have one pinball machine. It takes 400 watts to run. Broadly speaking (I know this is wayyyyyy oversimplified), that’s 4 amps.
On a 20 amp circuit that means that I could have 5 pinball machines plugged in, each drawing 4 amps. 4×5 is 20.
The minute I add another pinball machine to the circuit, that’s 4×6, which is 24 amps. 24 is greater than 20. That load would cause the wires to heat up because they’re past the load they’re designed for, which could cause a fire. The circuit breaker recognizes that the load is too high, and cuts the connection.
A surge protector that protects your electronics goes the other way:
Your devices are designed to accept 110-120 volts. If your house gets a surge because of short or a lightning strike, too much power would suddenly try to go out of your outlet and into your electronics, which would fry. The surge protector has a circuit breaker (or fuse if it’s older) that expects 110-120 volts. If more than that suddenly comes in, it breaks the circuit to protect your devices.
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