JEuriech Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 What is this blue thing on the dryer 30 amp breaker and what is it supposed to be used for? None of the other breakers had one. Thanks, Jeff Euriech Click to Enlarge 52.54 KB Click to Enlarge 52.37 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 It's a phase coupler. Someone is (or was) using the household wiring to carry signals. Perhaps an X-10 system or something similar. We've discussed them before here: https://www.inspectorsjournal.com/forum ... IC_ID=9304 Here's a picture of one that I just found: http://www.ubbcentral.com/store/item/x1 ... 08413.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEuriech Posted November 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 Thanks Jim.... Good information. Jeff . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 It's a capacitor used to allow signals injected into one 120 supply to reach destinations on the other 120v supply. The coils in the thermal/magnetic breakers are an obstruction to those signals, so that little capacitor bypasses them. Installation on any two-pole breaker would work. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 More specifically, the green one is a 650 volt 100K mfd capacitor. Also the guy on Jim's site says don't put it on a dryer breaker as it may heat up from surge at startup. It can actually go across any two adjacent breakers. Howdy, Marc. Ya beat me to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 This has me remembering X10 systems....possibly the buggiest and goofiest early attempt at control system wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 More specifically, the green one is a 650 volt 100K mfd capacitor. Also the guy on Jim's site says don't put it on a dryer breaker as it may heat up from surge at startup. It can actually go across any two adjacent breakers. Howdy, Marc. Ya beat me to it. A capacitor with a voltage rating that high and that much capacitance would be at least ten times larger than that little thing. I don't know what it's capacitance actually is. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Fabry Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 I looked up a schematic for this yesterday. I didn't recognize the phase coupler as just a capacitor and I was curious what else was included in the small package. For those interested but not interested enough to click the link, 0.1 uF is the capacitor size listed. For an explanation including the math, http://www.laureanno.com/Coupler-and-Blockers.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Fabry Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 This has me remembering X10 systems....possibly the buggiest and goofiest early attempt at control system wiring. I just inspected a millennial mansion with X10. Double click to turn the lights on, then tap, tap, tap to raise the intensity. Then reverse the process to turn them off. It added an hour to my already long day inspecting a house with 20 rooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 I looked up a schematic for this yesterday. I didn't recognize the phase coupler as just a capacitor and I was curious what else was included in the small package. For those interested but not interested enough to click the link, 0.1 uF is the capacitor size listed. For an explanation including the math, http://www.laureanno.com/Coupler-and-Blockers.html That design combines a coil with the 'blue thing' to increase the signal carried from one 120V source to the other. The values for each component needs to be exact as the combo in this configuration creates a circuit that resonates at the X-10 frequencies. Its like a warp tunnel.[] If the capacitor didn't work well enough, I'd use this design. It's very simply to make. Good find, Chad. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted November 17, 2016 Report Share Posted November 17, 2016 More specifically, the green one is a 650 volt 100K mfd capacitor. Also the guy on Jim's site says don't put it on a dryer breaker as it may heat up from surge at startup. It can actually go across any two adjacent breakers. Howdy, Marc. Ya beat me to it. A capacitor with a voltage rating that high and that much capacitance would be at least ten times larger than that little thing. I don't know what it's capacitance actually is. Marc You are right, I tried to read the label and got a bunch of zeros misplaced. The voltage rating is 650 v, the capacitance could be 0.1 mfd. Thanks Chad, for the link. They improve the design with the coils so it blocks noise, where the capacitor alone just acts as a jumper at that frequency, so the X-10 signal can pass, I think. Its a notch filter but I'm not sure if it is blocking that frequency or letting only that frequency pass. ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted November 17, 2016 Report Share Posted November 17, 2016 More specifically, the green one is a 650 volt 100K mfd capacitor. Also the guy on Jim's site says don't put it on a dryer breaker as it may heat up from surge at startup. It can actually go across any two adjacent breakers. Howdy, Marc. Ya beat me to it. A capacitor with a voltage rating that high and that much capacitance would be at least ten times larger than that little thing. I don't know what it's capacitance actually is. Marc You are right, I tried to read the label and got a bunch of zeros misplaced. The voltage rating is 650 v, the capacitance could be 0.1 mfd. Thanks Chad, for the link. They improve the design with the coils so it blocks noise, where the capacitor alone just acts as a jumper at that frequency, so the X-10 signal can pass, I think. Its a notch filter but I'm not sure if it is blocking that frequency or letting only that frequency pass. ?? Series resonant circuits facilitate the transmission of frequencies at or near the resonant frequency of the circuit. Parallel resonant circuits attenuate the transmission of frequencies at or near the resonant frequency of the circuit. The design in question is a series resonant circuit. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Simon Posted November 17, 2016 Report Share Posted November 17, 2016 Series resonant circuits facilitate the transmission of frequencies at or near the resonant frequency of the circuit. Parallel resonant circuits attenuate the transmission of frequencies at or near the resonant frequency of the circuit. The design in question is a series resonant circuit. That kind of goes without saying. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted November 18, 2016 Report Share Posted November 18, 2016 Series resonant circuits facilitate the transmission of frequencies at or near the resonant frequency of the circuit. Parallel resonant circuits attenuate the transmission of frequencies at or near the resonant frequency of the circuit. The design in question is a series resonant circuit. That kind of goes without saying. . . For you. Not for all. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted November 18, 2016 Report Share Posted November 18, 2016 I'm glad we cleared that up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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