The circuit breaker trips after turning on the microwave. It will only run about 30 seconds before tripping the breaker. The washing machine is the only other appliance on the circuit, and it is not running. what would cause the circuit breaker to trip?
What size breaker is protecting the circuit? Per the National Electrical Code, a microwave and a washing machine should each have their own dedicated circuit (and own breaker) rated at 20 amps. Also, if the breaker is old and has tripped many times due to continuous overloading, it may be weakened and could be tripping at a lower amperage than what it is rated. I would try the following:
1. If possible, test the microwave on another circuit and see if it trips that breaker. If possible, use a 20 amp circuit for the test.
2. If you're comfortable with working in an electrical panel safely, place a clamp on ammeter on the hot wire of the affected circuit in the panel and see how much current is being drawn when the microwave is on.
3. If you would rather stay out of the panel, get an inline ammeter/watt meter and plug the microwave into this. If the rating of the microwave is less than 15 amps (1800 watts), you may be able to use a device called a kill-a-watt at a local hardware store. This will show how much power is actually being used by a given appliance.
Chek the high voltage capacitor and the diode . If one of them are short there is a chance for tripping the breaker
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