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Issues with Your Circuit Breaker

Posted by Breaker Outlet on Apr 8th 2019

We all have issues that are peculiar to us. Some of us are particular about the spreading of germs. Others are bothered by certain smells. Some of us have to do the dishes every night before bed. Similarly, circuit breakers have their issues as well. Breaker Outlet, the best retailer of industrial circuit breakers, explains issues your circuit breaker may be having if it won’t reset. Contact us today!

THREE MAIN PROBLEMS WITH TRIPPED CIRCUIT BREAKERS

  1. An overloaded circuit. Another way to describe an overloaded circuit is a power surge that sends too much power into your breaker box, causing it to trip in order to prevent any electrical damage, as well as any potential electrical fires. What causes an overloaded circuit is usually too much demand for power outage that your room is not designed to handle. For instance, if your living room is only wired for 15-amp circuits and you have a mini-fridge, your TV, your surround sound, a cooling fan, and a window air conditioning unit all plugged in, odds are you’re overloading that room’s circuit. The simple solution is to unplug electronics and appliances you are not using. If say for instance you want to continue to have all of these items running in your living room and the circuit keeps tripping, you’ll have to hire an electrician to rewire that circuit to handle more amps of electrical current.
  2. A short circuit. A short circuit is caused when hot wire touches another hot wire or neutral wire, allowing the electrical current to travel along an unintended path. This is slightly more serious than an overloaded circuit merely because damage is probably caused to the cords or cables that was plugged into the affected outlets. Check the outlets or power cords for discolorations or a burning smell. Your local electrician should be called in order to check the circuit and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
  3. A ground fault. Similar to a short circuit, a ground fault is where the hot wire touches the ground wire or the metal box it is held in, or water seeps into the electrical box since water is a great conductor of electricity. If you suspect a ground fault in your residential circuit breaker, make a call to your local electrician to fix the problem as electrical shock is a danger. Breaker Outlet sells GFCI Breakers, or ground-fault circuit interrupter breakers, which provides protection for the entire branch circuit it serves to prevent ground faults.

Breaker Outlet makes a wide variety of residential circuit breakers and industrial circuit breakers, as well as fusible switches and safety switches for your home, business, or industrial use. We offer replacement parts for old circuit breakers as well as circuit breakers enclosures. Our mission is to make sure you have the correct parts for your circuit breakers to ensure the safety of your wiring. Some of the circuit breaker accessories that we carry include safety devices such as remote power cut-off devices and shunt trips, which allow outside appliances to also trigger a power shut off in the main breaker. Visit us online today for all of your circuit breaker needs!