Help with K-9 II dryer for home use. (USA) Can't use full power without tripping circuit breaker (and power outaging the whole area)

[ivan777]

I have no idea if this is the right subreddit to ask, since it's more of an electricity related question. Maybe there is someone who knows the answer, or at least similar experience.

I have a K-9 II dryer which you guys probably know is a very powerful dryer. I think you are only supposed to plug it in 20-amp outlets. I am guessing in commercial buildings, these outlets are way more common. However, in my home (USA) I don't have any wall outlets that look like this near where I can dry my dog , so I have no choice to plug it in the regular 15-amp looking ones (two vertical slits without the extra horizontal notch). Obviously, if I put the dryer at full power, it will trip the circuit breaker (after about half a minute).

However, I would really like to use the dryer at full power (both switches on instead of one/50% power) without tripping the circuits which I think means potentially burning my house down. But I have no idea how I can do this. I look in my electric box inside the garage and there seems to be an area (that's not the laundry room where I won't be able to dry him anyway) labeled 20-amps, but I don't know where and how you can convert the outlets if that's a thing.

Do I just need to hire an electrician for this?

 

[brokenwings3d]

@ivan777 My only suggestion would be you could try an extension cord from your garage to your groom room, but even so it may surge and trip your breaker. My generator broke in my van and I had to plug into a clients garage plug, she thought it was 20 amp but my K9 was still tripping the breaker so I had to use a weaker dryer so it wouldn't keep tripping. Good luck I hope you can get it to work!

 

[spartanapostle]

@ivan777 Is there anything else on that particular circuit? Sometimes you'll find multiple outlets that go back to the same breaker. We use our K9s on 15A breakers, but each of those outlets has a dedicated breaker.

 

[ivan777]

@spartanapostle I have no idea. How do I know this?

 

[spartanapostle]

@ivan777 I'm a dummy and I completely missed the part of your title where it cuts off power to your whole area. It definitely sounds like there's other loads on that circuit. If you can, try and run the cord to a part of your house that doesn't lose power when the breaker trips. Don't use an extension cord.

The K9 II actually draws 18.5A but most home circuits can handle the overdraw due to built-in redundancy, provided there's nothing else drawing power on that circuit.

Rewiring a circuit to support 20A will require replacing the wiring on that circuit with thicker gauge wire in addition to new receptacles and a new breaker, which will be very time-consuming and expensive. Possibly messy too. You will need an electrician for this.

 

[ivan777]

@spartanapostle Thanks so much!

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@ivan777 Most homes only have outlets for 15 AMP service. That dryer only requires 15 AMP service (if it required 16-20 AMPs it would have a sideways plug on one side), but it does pull a full 15 AMPS at full power which is at the limit of your wiring. This could cause an aging 15 AMP breaker to trip. Also, if you're using any type of extension cord, this could also cause the circuit to break. Another factor could be distance of the outlet to the breaker panel. The further away, the more the possibility exists for the breaker to trip.

It may be that you only need to replace your existing circuit breaker. My advice would be for you to try the dryer on a few other outlets on a different circuit and see what happens and go from there.

Of course, if you did install a 20 AMP breaker/wiring/outlet, this would more than likely solve the problem as well.