🇳🇴 Thor — backup account
The new network equipment I installed for the landlord is on the same circuit breaker as the central heating system, the hot water system and the central vacuum cleaner.
Last night, the central heating broke, and the landlord had to switch off the circuit breaker, meaning no Internet, no hot showers and no warm floors.
Flip one switch and everything is gone. Excellent electrical engineering!
The electricians really should've put those systems on separate breakers...
🇳🇴 Thor — backup account
Naturally, the landlord sent a text message about the impending switch-off, but since it was late and my phone was in DND mode, I didn't see that.
The first sign of trouble was that every single device in the technical room became unpingable.
I went in there with my roommate and a breaker was off, so we switched it on, and slowly plugged stuff in again to see which one would trip it. Having recently installed new equipment, I suspected a busted PSU had tripped it.
🇳🇴 Thor — backup account
But then I checked the amperage on the circuit breaker, and it said 50A.
50A x 240V = 12,000W
That's when I started wondering, because 12,000W can't pass through anything like an ordinary electrical plug without melting or at least discolouring something. It's unlikely that a single piece of equipment could even draw that much current from an ordinary electrical socket.
🇳🇴 Thor — backup account
By the time I saw the text message from the landlord, I was left with these possible causes for the flipped circuit breaker:
1. Some large piece of equipment has momentarily pulled 50A.
2. The circuit breaker is broken.
3. Large voltage spike on the grid.
What didn't occur to me was #4: The landlord had been in there, late at night, to switch it off.
This is a classical case of failing to apply Occam's Razor: The simplest solution to a problem is usually the right one.
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