my breakers in various places are being tripped and i don't know what the cause is. When this happens it usually are my outlets that don't work. What could be causing this?
2007-01-29 13:36:58 · 4 answers · asked by Patrice D 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
there are several ?'s need to be answered prior to answering your ?. I'm an electrician btw. Is this a new development?, if so and the problem is contained to outlets, what new have you started plugging in? that's usually a good place to start looking. Is this a Mobile home or House? If it's a mobile home, has it been moved recently? If it's a house, and a long standing problem confined to just outlets, my advice is to first spend 6$ on a plug tester, it has 3 lights on it, 2 yellow and 1 red, instructions are on it. It will tell you if you have a misswired outlet. (great invention) :). if the problem is not contained to just outlets, that changes a lot of my troubleshooting advice as well. so that also needs to be determined. I'll try to check back on this if you don't find an answer or repost with more details. another important piece of info is wether your breaker is a gfci breaker or not, on it in small print it will say GFCI, or ARCFault and will have a button.
good luck
2007-01-29 14:25:28 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Main thing I would suggest, is that the circuit to witch the breaker is connected to, is shorted to a grounded source. If this is a new installation check, but do not touch, for anything that may have punctured the wire insulation and possibly grounded the circuit. Also the breaker circuit may be overloaded, or just a bad breaker. Make sure that any appliances that are connected to this circuit are not requiring more amps then what the breaker is. Don't force the breaker back on for they are made to trip when there is a problem.
2007-01-29 13:57:02 · answer #2 · answered by Mich 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
How old is the wiring in your place. Breakers are tripped by an overload or surge going through it. You will need to get an electrician to trace the lines and do a conductivity test. Your service will probably need to be upgraded. Also measure how much power your appliances are pulling.
2007-01-29 13:48:39 · answer #3 · answered by Killer Klingon 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The issue is simple. Your breakers have a rating. 15 or 20 amp most likely.
You have something such as a short or an overloaded circuit that is pulling more current then your breakers are designed to carry.
Figure out what it is that you have that is pulling all that juice or shorting out.
Miketyson26
2007-01-29 14:00:50 · answer #4 · answered by miketyson26 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋