Two Reasons A Circuit Breaker Panel Will Trip
There are two primary reasons a circuit breaker panel will trip and cause you to lose electricity. This is an easy fix and you can repair it on your own if you feel comfortable working with electricity. The two reasons a circuit breaker panel will trip are because of an overloaded circuit or a short circuit.
Panels are designed to regulate the amount of amperage wires are capable of safely transporting. Most 110 volt circuits in a home are wired with 12 gauge wire because of this. They are placed on a breaker that is 20 amps. Your home might be wired with 14 or 15 gauge wire also. It is possible to place a 15 amp breaker and use 12 gauge wires. However, you should never use 14 gauge wires on a 20 amp breaker. Always verify the right type of wire with the amperage of the breaker.
When a breaker panel trips, you will lose power in some part of the home. You might plug in a new device and all of the sudden you hear a pop and lose all electricity in a certain area. Some of the outlets might work elsewhere but in a certain room of the home you have no power. You will need to know where the breaker box is located in your home. Open the door to the breaker box. Hopefully, during the installation of the circuit breaker panel, the person who did the circuit breaker box installation provided markers to make identification of each breaker easy. If markers are listed for identification then you will see which breaker tripped. In most cases, you can see which breaker tripped because it will be in the off position. You might even be able to switch it back to the on position and resume electricity.
When a short circuit occurs a hot wire will be broken or worn enough to make contact with the ground causing a short. The amperage will actually increase and go through the breaker. When the amps are higher than the rating of the breaker, electrical circuit breakers will trip. If you try to reset the breaker and it continues to shut off right away then you most likely have a shortage. A shortage usually requires an electrician or someone who knows how to repair electrical issues.
Overloading a circuit can cause circuit breaker panels to short and fail. When you overload a circuit it will fail. Many women don’t understand why their hair dryer trips the breaker. This is because a hair dryer is 1500 watts, which is full capacity for a breaker. When another item like a curling iron is plugged in with it, it overloads the circuit and trips the breaker. Always use one item at a time.
There are two primary reasons a circuit breaker panel will trip. These reasons include if there is a shortage in the wire or if you are overloading the circuit. Always pay attention to the panel and determine if you have a short or if the fault is on you. You can usually tell because a breaker will trip for no reason at all or because you plugged something in or turned it on.
