Worth paying an electrician to replace a blown circuit breaker? Or, easy enough to fix myself?

Answer 1

It is usually an easy task if you know what you are doing. The fact that you are asking says that you do not. The penalty for making SOME mistakes with electricity is death. Not worth the chance in my opinion.

Another potential problem is that sometimes the old breaker is hard to remove and/ or the new one is hard to install. This is a physical problem, not an electrical one.

I have replaced some in two minutes, others took 1/2 hour of fighting and swearing.

Is it really a defective breaker or is the circuit overloaded? You MUST not replace it with a larger capacity one just because it keeps tripping, that is very dangerous.

Answer 2

Well Im a licensed electrician. And putting a breaker in is a very simple task. Not to worry though, most of the time a breaker throws, its usually because its wearing out and becoming hot, so its doing it job. But heres the steps to replace it:

1.) Turn Off Main Breaker (Should Probably Be a 200A Breaker at the very top or bottom, its a big one!)
2.) Un-Snap Breaker from Circuit Panel
3.) Remove Hot Wire From Breaker Using a Philips Screwdriver
(Be carefull to not let that wire fly back into the panel and hit the Lugs were the service entrance wires are coming in)
4.) Snap New Breaker Back into Circuit Panel
5.) Insert Wire into curcuit breaker right under the screw and flat washer (Square Washer Type).
6.) Make Sure The connections on all of the breakers in panel are tight by pulling on them.
7.) Make Sure no debris is in panel which could cause a fire hazard.
8.) Turn Main Breaker Back to ON position.
9.) Turn ON newly installed breaker.

So see its very easy to do.. about a 5 minute job. I threw in some preventive maintanence steps too, its really a good idea to follow that. It could save your house and/or life.

Oh, i forgot to add, if the breaker is still tripping, you will need to check the amperage on the circuit. (Amperage = Amount of Current Flow) And you would do this by buying a amp meter and hooking it up in series in the circuit. Normally a breaker is only good for about 80% of its amp rating... so therfore is you have a 20A breaker the line should not be pulling over 16A or the breaker will throw. (Now this is were it would be time for the the qualified person to come check it out) Its very dangerous, even though its only 110v it still hurts like hell.

Answer 3

"If your circuit has blown, there may be a more serious underlying cause....."

Okay, it's established. However, this doesn't mean your S.O.L. Let's explore how to ascertain these potential causes and what to do about them...

But first, here is a simple tutorial on how to fix the initial, more immediate problem of a blown fuse:

THE FIRST STEP >
is to go the electrical service panel which is usually located in the basement or garage or in the room with your furnace and hot water heater.

> The tripped breaker will not be fully in the "On" position but
rather in the "Off" position or somewhere in between.

> To make visual identification easier, some breakers show red
by the handle when tripped.


TO RESET THE BREAKER >
just push the lever all the way to the "Off" position and then back fully to the "On" position.

> You will hear it click as it snaps into the "On" position.
> If the breaker trips again, you need to determine the reason for
the overcurrent condition and correct the root cause of the
problem. The breaker may be tripping due to excessive
amperage in the circuit or may be shorting out.


NOW FOR THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM....

Circuit breakers are designed to blow when one of the following potentially dangerous situations occur:

* OVERLOADED CIRCUIT

> An overloaded circuit is the primary reason for a breaker
tripping and occurs when a circuit is has more connected
electrical load than it is supposed to have.


> The most probable reason the breaker tripped is that you
simply have too much plugged into one outlet or multiple
outlets connected to one circuit.


* SHORT CIRCUIT

The Short Circuit is a more serious reason for a breaker tripping. A short is caused when the hot wire (black) touches another hot wire or touches a neutral wire (white). It can also be caused if there is a break in a wire in the circuit. Shorts are a bit more difficult to diagnose because they can be caused by the wiring in your home or in something you have plugged into an outlet.

The Fix:

* Confirm that power is off at the outlet into which your device is plugged.

* Inspect your power cords for damage or a melted appearance.

* Check your outlets and plugs for the smell of burning or brown or black discoloration.

* Check the insulation on the wires to make sure it is not cracked and touching a black and white wire together.

* If you do not find the problem, repeat the process for all the outlets in the circuit.

* Check for a Ground Fault condition


* GROUND FAULT

A Ground Fault condition exists when the hot wire (black) touches the ground wire (bare copper) or the side of a metal outlet box (because the metal box is connected to the ground wire). The ground fault is a type of short circuit.


The Fix:

* Same as Short Circuit except also check that the hot wire (black) is not touching the side of the metal outlet box or the ground wire.

Answer 4

You should have a 4/0 entry cable running from the meter to the breaker box outside and the same size cable running to the box inside. The cable costs about $5 a foot. I have a roll of it here now and do my own electrical work and my work always passes inspection even though I am not a licensed electrician. Look at the cable running from the outside box to the inside box. It is probably gray, and there should be numbers printed on it and it should say 4/0 somewhere on it with the letters AWG. He may be right about you needing a larger cable, but the price he gave is way too high and it is not ethical for him to offer you an under the table deal. It's back-stabbing his company at the very least and at worst will make you responsible should something go wrong, including if someone gets killed because of a mistake he made. I would not trust this man and I hope you will make an anonymous call to his boss and tell him that their employee is using his position to do questionable things. If you were my friend I would help you do the job for the cost of the cable and maybe lunch. People like him are why I do my own work... As for counting 500 amps, that is normal. There will be a big breaker, usually at the top of the box, that should say 200 on it. This is the main breaker and all other wires are connected to it so this limits the total amount of amps that can be used at the same time.

Answer 5

Put it this way. I am in my first year as an apprentice. I have experience with electrical work from both a profession and a home owner point of view. Even though I have about a year of professional experience, I would always make sure the main is off! Second a Journeyman or Master Electrician will know of other things to look for that an apprentice or DIYer would not. Having an electrical contractor do the work is actually more like time and money invested!

Answer 6

it's always worth paying a qualified electrician to replace a breaker. not only it's dangerous but also will give you a peace of mind knowing that it's done by a qualified tech. you can also do this if you're really comfortable working around live circuits. if this is not your line of work or no idea on how it's done, i would not attempt it. but here's a tip that might help you. turn off main power and disconnect wires going to the breaker, do not touch wires or let wires touch any metal object inside the box. replace with identical breaker and ensure it's locked in place before installing wires, once satisfied and everything is all clear and checked out, turn on main power and turn on power to breaker and it should work fine. again.... i warn you, if this is not your line of work and not comfortable working in this, get a qualified electrician to do it. good luck.

Answer 7

If the circuit breaker trips there is a reason for it doing so. While it is as easy as flipping a light switch to turn it back on, you might get an electrician to fix the problem that caused it to trip in the first place.

Answer 8

With no offense at all, I offer this.

Certainly a DIY'r can do. The question certainly involves turning off the main, which is a DUH issue. Another issue is determining the WHY of replacing? Is it just to add AMPS Load? On that circuit?

I suspect you shouldn't have a huge problem replacing, and again with no offense Trades People don't cruise looking for helpless home makers.

I'd be inclined to suggest any liability in possibly doing the job incorrectly. The Licensed Electrician would bear that responsibilty.

Some people "can't" do, hence trades people like electricians, plumbers, and those like myself, also have an opportunity to create survival income for ourselves and our families.

I have no idea what line of work you're in, but I suspect you deal in a professional manner, fairly treating your customers. I further suspect that most of us in the trades do the same.

I don't wish to be disrespectful, but consider for a moment. If something went wrong, in a DIY, and even worse some catastrophe happened, what might you, or anyone be able to do?

I wish you well.

Steven Wolf
(The Rev.)

Answer 9

"A blown circuit breaker"?
Any idea what it takes to 'blow' a circuit breaker?
I do. It's called a dead short and it is serious. Dont screw around with it as if it is some kind of DIY thing.
EOM.
Sorry, just being honest. Call an electrician.

Answer 10

fairly easy just make certain you opened or turned off the main breaker so there is no power from the utility pole to your breaker box. then you basicall pop out the old one detach the wires attach those wires to the new breaker and your in the limelight again