Many homeowners don’t have much knowledge about the electrical systems in their homes. If you’re confronted with a problem where your electrical circuit breaker frequently trips, it will disrupt the activities in your home. Tripping is a safety precaution that ensures safety. However, it can feel frustrating if this happens too often as you need to repeatedly reset the breaker to get the power back. In such a case, consider hiring an electrician Los Angeles to find out if the cause is any of the following.
An overloaded circuit might be the problem
The most common reason why a circuit breaker trips is an overloaded circuit. The tripping usually happens when a circuit tries to draw a bigger electrical load than what it’s designed to carry. Ideally, the size of the circuit breaker should match the wire’s load-carrying capacity. This means that the frequent tripping is an indication that you’re demanding too much of your circuit. You must transfer some of your devices or appliances to other circuits. Frequent tripping can also be an indication that there are too few circuits in your home. You need an electrician Los Angeles to conduct a service update. Generally, when a circuit overloads, the breaker will take about 10 to 30 seconds to trip. This is because of the internal time-delay feature of circuit breakers.
Call an electrician Los Angeles for a ground fault
This happens when an active or hot wire comes in contact with a ground wire, a grounded part of an appliance, or a grounded part of the junction box. When such contact happens, large amounts of current will pass through the circuit breaker and cause it to trip. Ground faults usually occur when electrical equipment is either defective or damaged. This poses a danger since the live electrical parts might not be adequately protected when they get touched unintentionally.
There could be a short circuit
Another common reason why circuit breakers trip is a short circuit in your house and this one is more dangerous. A short circuit occurs when there’s a fault in one of your electrical outlets, specifically when a neutral wire comes in contact with a live wire. This can also occur when there is a fault or a loose connection in the wiring of a plug or appliance. When this happens, the electrical resistance will get overridden as large amounts of current suddenly flow through the circuit. This will create too much heat for the circuit and as a consequence, your circuit breaker trips. It will shut off the circuit to prevent fires. Sometimes, you might notice a dark discoloration around the breaker or a burning smell.
Call us to fix your breaker
Enjoy peace of mind by hiring the services of high-quality, trusted professionals from us at USA Electric Repairs Inc. Our electricians have years of experience behind them and they will handle all types of projects. Call us at (818) 492-4115 today to get an estimate or learn more about the electrical services we offer.
