What Causes Circuit Breaker to Trip Often?

Circuit breakers that trip frequently may be annoying, but it actually trips to protect the circuit from overheating due to excessive power. In fact, a circuit breaker acts as a barrier that helps prevent electrical appliance failure and fires. A circuit breaker cuts of the power supply when excessive current is detected. Most of the modern circuit breakers have two independent tripping mechanisms called thermal and magnetic tripping, and it is designed to act to a different type of fault.

However, here are the most common causes of a tripped circuit breaker and let’s take a look into them one by one.

Overloaded circuit

This is one of the most common causes of a tripped breaker, and it happens when you run too many devices on the same circuit at the same time. When the demand or load on the circuit increases it trips to prevent the circuit from overheating. With little work, you can identify the issue. Before you flip the trip back on, find out what was running when the breaker tripped.

If you notice any of your appliances are running too hot, making a strange noise and having trouble starting or not working properly, a faulty appliance draws more amps than usual that cause the circuit overload and get tripped. Turn off the devices on the circuit to reduce the overload. If any of these things don’t help you resolve the issue, you may need to have Toowoomba electrician install a new circuit to handle your home’s amp load.

Short Circuit

A dangerous potential cause of circuit breaker trip is a short circuit. It is caused when active or hot wires touch another hot or a neutral wire in one of your outlets. This result in a huge current flow creating more heat than the circuit could handle. A short circuit will cause a breaker to trip or a fuse to blow and it may also cause sparks, popping sounds or even smoke. You may notice the outlet is blackening or burnt smell. If this happens, call the electrician Toowoomba immediately.

What causes a short circuit? There are many potential culprits including loose wires, improper wiring, and damaged devices. Short circuits are a fire hazard, so don’t wait let the Toowoomba electrician check on it.

Ground fault

It is similar to a short circuit but occurs when a hot wire touches the grounding wire. You may notice discolouration or burnt smell around the outlet. They are usually caused due to the malfunctioning or damaged equipment. They are also dangerous so fix them quickly.

The author is a reputed Electrical contractor in Toowoomba. Along with a team of professionals, he provides cutting edge electrical solutions. Visit https://st8wideelectrical.com.au/ for more details.

With more than 15 years of experience, ST8 Wide Electrical are qualified and reliable Toowoomba electrical contractors who specialise in domestic, industrial, agricultural, underground cabling and commercial electrical works.