When you are in your house and notice that all of a sudden an outlet or an appliance stops working it can be due to several reasons. This can put a real damper on your day when you are trying to get things done in your house. The electricity in the house is needed for lights, air conditioning, appliances, charging your phone and so much more. If you notice that the entire house is without power you want to check the circuit breakers to see if the main breaker has been tripped and shut off all power to the house. If this is not the reason you may need to contact the power company to see about a black out or problems in your area. If you notice that it is just one room or an area of a room it is likely due to a tripped breaker. This means that something has caused the circuit to trip and instead of causing damage to the area it opens the circuit. You can go out to your circuit board and see which one has tripped. You can usually just flip it back into position and go about your business. If the circuit will not reset it could a sign of a bigger problem.

Peterkin Electric Troubleshoots when a Circuit Breaker has Tripped & Won’t Reset

Do You Know How to Reset the Circuit Breaker?: The first thing that you need to know is how to actually set a breaker? If you are unsure what you are doing it can be due to user error. The first thing that you need to know is what breaker are you setting. It should be the one that is not flipped all the way in the proper direction. It is also a good idea to switch it all the way to the off position then firmly pull the switch back over. You should be able to feel and hear when it has latched back in place. If you try this and the circuit is still tripped it can be due to a different problem.
Is the Circuit Overloaded?: It might surprise you to know that the circuits set up in your home are only capable of sending a certain amount of voltage. That means if you go out and purchase an extension cord that has six slots, it doesn’t mean you should use them all. That might be exactly what is causing the circuit to trip in the first place. If you try to reset the breaker and find that it immediately trips again it can be from overloading. You want to check what is being used in that area and unplug a few items to test it if is too full.
Is it an Electrical Short Circuit?: If you have a breaker trip and resetting it does not work it can be due to a bigger problem. If there is a short that means that the wire that is considered hot is touching another wire. This is a warning and can cause a fire. That is why the breaker will trip as a way to keep you safe. If this is the cause, it is best to have an licensed electrician find and repair the problem.

Circuit Breaker Repair, Replacement & More in Laguna Woods, Santa Ana, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Aliso Viejo, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Irvine, Lake Forest & Orange County, California

Peterkin Electric offers to inspect and repair any trouble with your breaker box or other electrical needs. Call us today to meet with one of our experts.