Tripping Circuit Breakers

Your circuit breaker is the electrical device that fits into your electronic panel and helps to regulate the amps that are being sent through the wiring in your home. In a regular home, the amps circuit breakers generally use are ten, fifteen, and twenty. When the electricity enters your home it goes through the circuit breaker box. In the breaker box there are various circuits. Each of these circuits is protected by a breaker or fuse. The larger amp circuits are for any rooms that have electronics that consume a lot of electricity. If you are using too much electricity the circuit breaker will “trip” in order to avoid a hazard. When talking about “trips” it simply means that the circuit is shut off by the breaker switch. When this happens it will protect your circuit box and all of the wires there from overheating. This can lead to an electrical fire. Having your circuit breaker trip can be a lifesaver. Some of the causes can be taken care of by the homeowner while others require electricians in Orange County to correct the problem.

If you have a circuit breaker trip you should go to the circuit breaker panel, which is what distributes incoming electricity to different electric circuits per their requirements, and once you turn on the switch it automatically flips off again, is a good indication of a problem.

Causes

• Breakers are weak—this is a common cause because overtime the circuit will become weak. The breakers can also become weak if there is occasional overloading of electricity.
• Circuit overload—for constant trips this is usually the reason. Each circuit breaker in your electrical panel have a different rating so if you insert heavy duty devices into a fifteen amp you are going to naturally consume more electricity, causing it to trip. To take care of this problem you will either have to put in a higher amp or insert the heavy-duty devices into a higher amp spot.
• Ground fault—this happens when you have a black hot wire touches the ground wire, which is bare copper or when the hot wire contacts with your electric panel as it is connected to your ground wire. This is something that should be checked by an electrician.
• Short circuits—this happens when a hot wire, which is black in color, comes in contact with white neutral wire or another hot wire. They usually happen when the wires break. Since this problem deals with wires it is best if you have an Orange County electrician correct this problem.

Once the cause has been figured out, the homeowner can fix it or have an electrician in Orange County fix the circuit breaker.