Why Do My Breakers Keep Tripping?
When in your home, you want to make sure that everything works the way it’s supposed to. When you flip a light switch, you want the light to turn on. When cooking dinner, your fridge should be keeping things cold and your stove should work. However, every so often, you may find that your electrical appliances or switches aren’t working. This could be because of a tripped breaker, which will lead you to ask: why do my breakers keep tripping?
Reasons Why Breakers Keep Tripping
There are some common reasons why your breakers keep tripping. If this happens on a recurring or regular basis, you should call a Las Vegas electrician to take a look at your home to determine why.
1. Circuit Overloads
If you find yourself asking “why do my breakers keep tripping,” it could be because the circuits are overloaded. This happens when you want a circuit to provide more energy than it is capable of. This will cause the circuit to overheat and will put anything that is plugged into it at risk. The circuit breaker trips to prevent any damage from occurring to the appliances or to the circuit, as well as reducing the chances of a fire occurring.
If you find yourself asking “why do my breakers keep tripping,” it could be because the circuits are overloaded. This happens when you want a circuit to provide more energy than it is capable of. This will cause the circuit to overheat and will put anything that is plugged into it at risk. The circuit breaker trips to prevent any damage from occurring to the appliances or to the circuit, as well as reducing the chances of a fire occurring.
2. Short Circuits
A short circuit occurs when a “hot wire” comes into contact with a “neutral wire” in your electrical outlet. This can be more dangerous and damaging than a circuit overload. When the hot wire touches the neutral wire, a large amount of current flows through the circuit and creates a lot of heat—more heat than the circuit can handle. When this happens, it will lead to your breaker once again tripping to prevent damage or a fire from breaking out.
A short circuit can be caused by a loose connection or faulty wiring. You will know that you are experiencing a short circuit because there will be a burning smell left around the breaker. You may even notice brown or black discoloration around it. The best way to deal with this issue is to call in a professional residential electrician.
3. Ground Fault Surges
These are similar to a short circuit and result when a hot wire touches a ground wire made from bare copper, or the hot wire touches a metal outlet box that is connected to a ground wire. Once again, more electricity than the circuit can handle will pass through, tripping the breaker to prevent damage or a fire.
Should a ground fault surge occur, you will notice that there is discoloration around the outlet. Again, calling in an electrician to take care of the issue will help determine why breakers keep tripping and find a way to correct the problem.
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4. Storms
Storms with a lot of lightning moving through the area can have an impact on your electricity and cause your breakers to trip. Depending on where the lightning strikes, it can knock out all of your power or only impact one section of your home. Lightning will send a surge of too much electricity through your system, and to prevent damage or fires, your breakers will trip.
5. Appliance Failure
If you plug a faulty appliance into an outlet, this could lead to overloading. The appliance will try to draw more power then the circuit is capable of, and it will cause excessive heat. To prevent damage and the risk of a fire, it will trip the breaker.
If you find that this happens every time you plug in a certain appliance and you are asking, “why do my breakers keep tripping,” you may want to check the appliance to see if it’s the culprit.
It can be incredibly frustrating and confusing when your breakers trip. It may take you a while to notice that the power in one area of your home is out, and then you’ll have to head to the panel and flip the switch to turn the power back on.
If you find that you are tripping breakers on a regular basis, then you should call Las Vegas electrician Fowler Electric to check your electrical system and make sure it’s in good working order.
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If you’re in Las Vegas, or anywhere in Clark County, and have faulty breakers or breakers that keep tripping, send us a message with the form below and we’ll be in contact soon!
