Can a bad Circuit Breaker cause an outlet to loose power temporarily and then come back without be tripped?

Question

My New TV seems to reset itself(turn off then right back on) randormly recently. I thought it was the TV until it happend tonight and we had the DVD player and reciever on too (same outlet) and they turned off and back on too. Now I know its not the TV and was wondering if replacing the circuit beaker for that receptical could solve the problem. Never had a circuit breaker act like this before, but I don't know what else to check.

Answer 1

I never have either but it might be the issue.

The first thing I would suspect is a loose wire on the outlet itself. Turn off your breaker and check it.

If the wires were tight see what happens anyhow. Turning off your breaker & turning it back on might have fixed it.

If it does it again I would try a new breaker.

Answer 2

a breaker wont allow power to come back on after its off

they just don't work that way as its dangerous

you may have a break in your wire somewhere, i suggest getting a plug in tester...yellow ones at home depot work well and i use them all the time at work

it may be a loose connection in that outlet

are the other outlets in the room having this problem?
if so its in the line for that whole circuit, if not its in just that outlet electric box and an inspection should find the problem.

turn the power off for that circuit and open the outlet seeing if there are any bad connections

anything like this will break the devices like the TV and DVD player faster than normal.

Answer 3

A circuit breaker is a current limiting device and unless there is an overload / fault of the circuit it will no operate.
They will occasionally quit working completely but, I've never experienced one that worked intermittently. I suspect a loose wire in the receptacle or a junction box. The outlet itself could be worn out from having things plugged in and out of it over the years. Try replacing the receptacle first then work your way back to the breaker. Make sure you turn the power off first!

Answer 4

I would try plugging into another out let and see if this corrects the problem ( try one in the same room on the same circuit ) If this helps I would say it's the outlet itself. If not then it's the breaker. It's easier and cheaper to change the outlet than the breaker.

Answer 5

Breakers are a sealed unit. But, years of high current can cause the contacts to become carbonized. Flip the breaker on and off a few times to clean the contacts and see if that helps.

Answer 6

It is probably a loose connection. If you are capable, you could switch this circuit from one breaker to another. If the problem persists, the fault is not with the breaker.

Answer 7

No circuit breakers don't turn themselves off, & then back on again. It's more likely that you suffered a slight brown out, or power spike. Electronic devices are more sensitive to things like that, & will show symtoms faster thatn an incandescant light bulb.

Answer 8

I would check the connections at the wall recepticle first. Assuming you arent using a power strip which could be the problem, The breaker would be the next check

Answer 9

Never had it happen because of a breaker, but have found a loose connection usually at the receptacle several times.

Answer 10

Your electricity may have dropped a phase. This means several fuses/breakers may have temporarily lost power. This has happened at my house off and on for months till the utility company fixed their bad transformer. Ask your neighbors if this happens to them as well.