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I'm having the problem that my (switching) power supply of my new "mobile workstation" (laptop) is blowing the 230V/16A (about 40 years old) fuse (circuit breaker) most of the time when plugging in the power supply to the wall socket. The power supply is rated 230W (so so). However there are basically no other consumers on that fuse at that time.

I also had a similar problem on another circuit with a BeQuiet 450W power supply, while I did not have one with an Enermax 750W power supply that was older. The solution for that time was to replace the circuit breaker with a 14A model that would not trigger that fast.

Not wanting to replace all the circuit breakers in the house (it has to be done by an electrician in Germany (=expensive)), I'm considering to add an inrush current limiter instead.

However I try to understand why seemingly lower-rated power supplies "blow the fuse", while stronger ones did not: Is it because the electronics become cheaper, and "soft start" isn't implemented any more, or is it due to "PFC" (Power Factor Conversion) as Einschaltstrombegrenzung und Softstart bei Netzteilen (German) suggests ("Schaltnetzteile mit aktiver elektronischer Leistungsfaktorkorrektur (PFC) haben ebenfalls das Problem eines hohen Einschaltstroms" ("Switch-mode power supplies with active electronic power factor correction (PFC) also have the problem of a high inrush current"))?

So basically: What are the reasons for the problem, and what are possible solutions?

Details

Here is an image of the circuit breaker (left left one is the one in question; the right one is a replacement from last year that does not have that problem.

Circuit breakers

And here's a photo of the power supply's data with a lot of certifications (sorry for the reflection):

power supply's data

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  • \$\begingroup\$ What's the fuse characteristic, A, B, C or D? \$\endgroup\$
    – winny
    Commented Jul 15 at 6:32
  • \$\begingroup\$ What does "fuse (circuit breaker)" mean? Is it a fuse or a circuit breaker? \$\endgroup\$
    – vir
    Commented Jul 15 at 6:36
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    \$\begingroup\$ Is it a RCD type breaker? \$\endgroup\$
    – Tim Williams
    Commented Jul 15 at 7:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm afraid, the thing is to old to have an A-D characteristic. Be patient, I'll add a photo when I'm back home. In German i't basically the same word ("Sicherung") for both types, but to be more precise one would use "Schmelzsicherung" ("melting fuse") or "Sicherungsautomat" (~"automatic fuse"). So it's the second type. \$\endgroup\$
    – U. Windl
    Commented Jul 15 at 9:00
  • \$\begingroup\$ As @TimWilliams is hinting at, if it's an RCD breaker, your problem may be leakage current to ground rather than inrush. In that case, limiting inrush current won't solve the problem. It would be unusual for inrush on such a small supply to blow a 16 A 230 V breaker. On the other hand, breakers do age and can false trip so a new breaker might be necessary. \$\endgroup\$
    – John D
    Commented Jul 15 at 16:01

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