circut breaker trips everytime I turn off lights
js981113
14 years ago
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joed
14 years agojoefixit2
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Circuit breaker keeps tripping
Comments (7)It could be faulty equipment, faulty wiring or a faulty breaker. Temporairily disconnecting the smoke detectors can eliminate them as a cause. Swapping circuit breaker connections can rule that out. If you have an arc-fault circuit breaker, a loose connection can cause a trip. I'd check for a tight connection in the breaker panel (hot and neutral). Loose connections and intermittant short circuits can also be checked for at junction boxes on the citcuit, looking for any evidence of arcing. I'd start at the first junction box on the circuit and work towards the last....See Morearc breakers tripping
Comments (3)GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupters) work by sensing the difference between the outgoing current and return current. A typical fault limit is 5 miliamp difference. I am assuming that you have GFCI also known as GFI. Also, the return current should pass through the same hole in the breaker box as the outgoing current. Trouble may develop if the return path is somewhere else. In fact, anywhere one lead passes through a hole in metal, its partner lead should also pass through the same hole. My first suspicion is your dryer. If it is a gas dryer, then a likely source for a sneak ground path is the motor or one of the controls. Relay coils can leak. If the motor is a capacitor start type, the start winding and its capacitor is suspect. If the dryer is by electric heaters, there is ample opportunity for heating elements to leak to the frame of the machine. As a first check, measure the voltage between the appliance frame and a solid ground such as a metal water pipe. Clip on the meter and turn on the appliance while watching the meter. (An analog meter works better than a digital for this test since the voltage jolt may be too short for the digital to respond whereas the needle on an analog will jump or twitch enough for one to see it. However, if short is present and persists for more than a second, a digital meter will also have a response.) There should be no voltage. If you see a voltage, note its value. If it is line voltage, you have a very dangerous situation. Electrocution may result if a user touches a metal part of the machine and a ground such as a water faucet at the same time. If you are not comfortable with using a volt-ohm meter, then get an electrician or technican who can trouble shoot your setup. The GFI is telling you that something is wrong. Of course, a GFI contains electronics and could fail, but GFIs from major manufactures have a good reliability record. Most manufacturers recommend that a GFI or ordinary circuit breaker should be replaced if it has opened a short....See MoreLights buzzing and flickering, circuit breaker tripping
Comments (10)Get a different electrician. Something is wrong with the new setup, or there exists a return path other than the return wire. It is true that kitchen, bath, and outside circuits should have GFI circuit breakers, but I don't think they have to be on the same circuit! Each circuit needs protection by GFI, but each circuit may have its own GFI. Doubling up of outlets (not circuits) served by one GFI was done in the past as a cost saving measure. In my house, one outside outlet and the powder room is served by the GFI in the powder room, however, this is only one circuit. My house was wired in 1976. But care must be exercised in the layout to not create potential overloading of any one circuit. I expect codes have changed since then. At that date, GFIs were a new item. The general rule was that GFIs were required in locations where shock hazards were most common. Most of the locations were where one might touch a grounded item and a damaged or mis-wired appliance at the same time. Examples are: an electric fry pan and a metal kitchen sink or faucet; electric shaver and bathroom faucet; a radio dropped in the bath tub; and outside, a faulted device with the user making circuit to earth or a piece of plumbing; etc. Under these rules, places such as living rooms and bedrooms were exempt. However, local authorities may add additional requirements. The instructions for GFIs often state that these should not be used in series. For example, there could be a GFI circuit breaker in the main entrance box that is serving a bathroom circuit, but another small GFI was installed inadvertently in an outlet box in the bathroom in the same circuit. This would be two GFIs in series. If you are located in an incorporated municipality, very likely there is a building inspector and a permit is required to make major wiring installations. If this is the case, your building inspector can be an Allie in getting this situation corrected. In regard to the buzzing sound, have you determined the source? Is it a transformer in an LED fixture that is part of the power supply for the light? Transformers do present design problems and are prone to buzzing. Cheaply or poorly made transformers can be noisy. If this is the source of your noise, the solution is to replace the transformers with better ones, or get better fixtures....See Morewhy is my breaker for my kid's bedrooms all of a sudden tripping off?
Comments (3)One simple thing you might do is remove the lamps from the luminaries and then reset the breaker. Go through the same experiment turning on the switches without the light potential. I recently experienced a first for me, an incandescent lamp failure that tripped a breaker. In my case it reset fine with the failed lamp still in place. I think it unlikely that there is enough conductor in a lamp to fuse and carry enough current to fail a breaker, but it is a cheap check before calling in an electrician or tearing into it yourself. Are there both lights and plugs on the circuit?...See Morejs981113
14 years agojoed
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