Licensed master electrician working on an industrial breaker panel.
Circuit breakers trip for one of 3 reasons, a short circuit, a ground fault or an overloaded circuit. A short circuit being the most basic to explain and the hardest to fix and an overloaded circuit being fairly easy to explain and easier to repair. Ground faults resemble short circuits.
A circuit breaker “trips” or shuts off the electrical flow to protect the circuit from overheating and triggering damage– even perhaps an electrical fire.
Circuit Breakers Overloading
The circuit overloading is the most common factor your circuit breakers are tripping.
That means you’re running too many heavy power consuming gadgets at the same time on the exact same circuit.
For example, if you have a 15 amp circuit with 20 amps worth of electricity going through that same circuit due to the fact that your hair dryer, TELEVISION and air conditioning system were all on at the same time, then the breaker will certainly trip to prevent overheating.
There are two options:
- Redistribute the power-heavy devices on the overloaded circuit to another basic function circuit.
- Turn off some gadgets on the circuit to reduce the electrical load.
Short Circuit
The next possible (and more harmful) cause is a short circuit.
In a short circuit, the hot wire is broken or potentially just has the insulation put on enough to make contact with a ground. When this happens this direct short causes the amperage to enhance coming through the breaker and when the amperage is higher than the score on the breaker the breaker trips. When you attempt and reset the breaker it will certainly trip right withdraw. Repairing this circumstance requires somebody with electrical knowledge so you should employ an electrician. Electricity is dangerous so do not play around with it. It takes less than one amp to kill somebody.
Ground Fault
Much like a short circuit. A ground fault takes place when a hot wire (black) touches the ground wire (bare copper) on the side of a metal outlet box which is linked to the ground wire.
Similar to a short circuit, you need to see if anything looks out of the ordinary with your outlets.
Need an Electrician in Northwest Arkansas?
Our top suggestion with electricity, is simply call us, and have our highly trained and knowledgable electricians visit your the home of make these decisions. If you’re not sure which of the problems listed above is causing your circuit breaker to trip, and want on-site aid with your circuit breakers or to examine your circuitry, call Davitt Electric.