If you are experiencing a breaker that trips regularly, here are the most common causes and when to call in an electrician to address the issue. 

Why Breakers Trip

If you have a breaker that keeps tripping, the most important thing to keep in mind is that the tripping is for your safety. Breakers are designed to trip when something goes wrong to prevent an electrical fire. A trip is when the breaker flips itself from the "on" position to "off." This breaker must be manually moved back to the on position to restore power to that circuit. If it happens once in a while, it may just be an isolated incident. If it keeps tripping after reset, however, then you may have a larger issue to address. 

Common Causes

The most common cause of a breaker tripping is an overloaded circuit. This occurs when more electrical current is being drawn through the wires than they can handle. Essentially, you are attempting to pull too much power through that one circuit and it can't meet the demand, so it shuts off rather than attempting to pull the extra power, which would result in an electrical fire. If your circuit is overloaded, you may also notice other signs, such as buzzing noises from outlets, devices charging slowly, outlets not working or flickering lights. 

As a short-term solution, you could try unplugging appliances or devices that are connected to the overloaded circuit and see if that resolves the issue. Long-term, you will want to call an electrician to pull additional circuits to meet the need for power in that particular room or location in your home. 

A breaker trip may also be caused by a short circuit. That means that there are two wires touching that shouldn't be in contact. This creates a surge of electricity through the wires, causing a short. This can happen in an outlet, a switch or an appliance. Signs of a short circuit could also include sparks, popping sounds, discolored outlets or switches or burning smells. To test if you have a short circuit in an appliance, you can try to plug it in another outlet somewhere else in your home. If the breaker in that room trips also, then you know you have a wiring short in the appliance itself. 

Another potential cause of a tripped breaker is a ground fault. This occurs when the electricity running through the home's wiring diverts from the loop and instead goes to the ground. This is commonly due to faulty wiring or water infiltration in an outlet or switch. Once water makes contact with wires, electricity can jump from the loop and follow the water instead. This creates a surge in electricity and leads to a tripped circuit breaker. If someone were to come in contact with this rogue electricity, there is a great chance for electrocution. Other signs of a ground fault include a tripped GFCI, a burning smell from outlet or lights flickering. 

GFCIs (ground fault circuit interrupters) are designed to protect against ground faults, which is why they are required to be in areas that may be exposed to water. To learn more about GFCIs, read our blog here. 

Finally, the cause of the tripped breaker may be that the breaker itself is worn out or faulty. Breakers that are old, damaged or were installed incorrectly may trip for no other reason. Signs of a bad circuit breaker include the breaker getting hot and tripping frequently, not being able to get it to reset, scorch marks on the breaker or a breaker that is older than 10 years. 

When to Call a Professional

Most circuit breaker issues will need to be inspected by a professional electrician. If a simple fix like moving appliances from one room to another doesn't resolve your issue, then calling a contractor is recommended. Don't take chances messing around with the breaker or circuits yourself, as thousands of people in the US every year are critically injured and electrocuted as a result of fires or accidents. 

Give us a call today should you experience any of these issues with your breaker tripping!