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The picture shown at the beginning of this post would render only one of the breakers in the circuit. If the breakers are in SERIES then the breaker with the weakest opening point would open first and the other would never open. If wired in parallel the circuit is then protected at about twice the breaker rating.
Most important, we should never replace a breaker with a rating higher than the Mfg. installed originally. If the units are tripping out either there is an overload problem or the breaker is defective. An overload problem should be traced and properly repaired, a defective breaker should be replaced with one the same as the original. Calculating wire size is only of many considerations when selecting circuit protection. Be safe, replace with the same size as originally installed.
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