Dealing with constant breaker trips, or have a breaker that refuses to reset in your control panel box? Our team knows well just how maddening this can be, and it always seems to happen at the worst time. Let’s see if we can’t help you out! Follow along with the certified electricians at Hoffman Electrical & A/C in St. Petersburg to find out how to troubleshoot your breaker panel problems.
Starting Off Easy
The good news is that the most common causes of breaker panel trouble are actually quite simple and easy to address. The majority of the time it’s a simple standard trip, and thus can only have a handful of triggers. We’ll start with these:
- Did you plug in a new appliance? The huge majority of breaker trips come as a result of a high-draw appliance being plugged into a circuit that cannot handle the load. Things such as portable space heaters, hair dryers and other electrical hygiene tools, and microwaves are notorious for this. This happens because a circuit can only have so much demand placed on it, and when this is exceeded it will trip. Try plugging the appliance into a different circuit area, or for a better solution get a dedicated circuit installed for safe electrical use.
- Did the breaker problem correspond with an appliance failure? An aging or faulty appliance gasping its last will often cause a sudden shift or jolt in electrical power, which your breakers will read as an overload. This causes the breaker to trip.
Attempting to Reset Your Breaker
Breaker trips are frequently a minor consequence, and can be easily remedied by simply resetting the breaker at the panel. The process to do this is easy, and goes as follows:
- Carefully open your breaker panel to expose the breakers that correspond to your home circuits. Be careful to listen for any buzzing or other odd sound,s and if you hear any stop messing with the breaker and call in an expert right away.
- Locate the circuit you’re trying to reset. There should be an easy to use diagram that uses numbers printed on or on the side of the breakers and printed locations throughout the home (utility room, Kitchen, bath, lights, etc).
- If the breaker tripped the switch located on it should be somewhere in the middle between “on” and “off” and should have a bit of springy give if you poke at it.
- Firmly push the breaker into the “off” position, count to three, and then set the breaker switch to the “on” position.
This may handle your problem right away, and if so that’s great! But if not, or if the breaker continues to trip without any input on your part then it’s time to call in an electrician. It’s possible that you’re dealing with damaged wiring, a failing breaker, or you may need a heavy up service to accommodate your growing electrical access needs.
Breaker Panel & Heavy Up Services in Florida
Stressed out over dealing with your faulty or misbehaving breaker panel? Don’t worry any longer! Call on our specialists today for priority electrical repair and upgrade services. At Hoffman Electrical & A/C it is our goal to ensure our clients get the best services possible, and we always place your satisfaction and safety above all else!
