Friday Puzzle -- three new circuits

Re: Friday Puzzle -- three new circuits

flbuckeye

flip two on go up and see whats off. label that one and flip one of the two previously flipped and go up to see how to label the box. two trips.

Re: Friday Puzzle -- three new circuits

Larry Barrett

This seems like a poor way to proceed, but it might work with just one trip.

Suppose you rewire one lamp to tie the two wires together.

Then, go to the basement, close the circuit breakers one at a time; one will trip, because of the short in the lamp. Lable that breaker.

Then close one of the other breakers, go upstairs to see which lamp is on (and fix the mis-wired lamp while you are at it). Return to the basement to lable the closed breaker, and to close and lable the third breaker.

Alex Y

Still sounds like two trips.

Think outside the box on this one

Hint

Alex Y

Keep up the guesses, and I will tell you if you are getting close. So far, neither guess is even warm.

zero

Bill Earl

Put 25, 50 and 100 watt bulbs in each of the three lamps. Turn on each of the breakers and look how fast the meter spins.

Clever

Alex Y

But I'd argue that that is at least one. You are in the basement when the problem of unlabeled circuits presents itself, so you have to go back upstairs to put in the three sizes of bulbs. And you probably have to climb stairs out of the basement to go look at the meter, but that is not given.

Solution

Alex Y

Bill got a solution that works with only one climbing of stairs, at least if the meter is accessible from the basement.

The solution I was looking for was:

Label the circuit breakers #1, #2, and #3, and turn on #1 and #2.

Don't you have something in the basement that you were supposed to clean up/organize, etc., but have never gotten around to it? Do that for ten minutes.

Turn off circuit breaker #2 and go upstairs.

The room with the light on is circuit #1, the dark room with the warm light is #2, and the dark room with the cool light is #3.