Circuit breaker keep tripping? It’s probably one of these problems:
- Overloaded breakers: Your breakers are overloading, meaning you’re attempting to pull more power from a breaker than they will safely allow.
- Short-circuiting: If your breaker short-circuiting, wires are touching within your outlets. This is very dangerous, and requires immediate attention from a certified electrician.
- Ground fault: You’re experiencing a ground-fault, meaning a “hot” wire is touching your neutral (ground) wire within the outlet.
- Bad appliance: You have a malfunctioning or damaged appliance plugged into the outlet; this often happens with very old antique appliances, or very new appliances that you’re plugging in for the first time.
- Large appliance: Plugging a heavy-duty appliance (microwave, fridge, etc) into a non-dedicated outlet can exceed the maximum amp capacity.
- Damaged/old breaker: Your breaker is old, damaged, or worn out; you can troubleshoot this by removing a few electronics from the breaker’s load. If the breaker still trips, you’ve probably got a bad breaker.
- Too many appliances: You have too many appliances plugged into a single breaker, or too many high-power (wattage) appliances on a single breaker.
- Outdated panel: Your electric panel is outdated, or you are in need of a heavy-up.
- Compromised wiring: your wiring is outdated, damaged, or compromised. This problem is very frequently accompanied by “burnt” smells and is quite dangerous to your home.