Circuit Breaker Tripping? How to Identify Cause and Best Way to Repair

Circuit breakers are designed to keep the electrical system safe and prevent fires. Find out why a circuit breaker trips and the best way to get it fixed.

LESLIE: Gary in Michigan, with an issue of circuit breaker tripping, you have got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?

GARY: We have a short circuit. Somewhere in our house, we have a wire that blows our fuse all the time.

TOM: OK. Does this circuit breaker tripping happen because you’re doing anything, like running an appliance or something of that nature?

GARY: No, we just hit the circuit breaker and it goes off.

TOM: What do you mean you hit the circuit breaker and it goes off? You mean you turn the circuit breaker on and it pops right off?

GARY: Well, we pop – yes. Yeah, exactly.

TOM: OK.

GARY: We bought the house. We didn’t know about it and it’s there now.

TOM: Oh, OK. Well, you’ve got to call an electrician about this circuit breaker tripping because the circuit breaker is doing its job. If the circuit breaker is not letting you turn that circuit back on, then that circuit is either wired dangerously or it has a bad breaker or there is something wrong with the way it’s all pulling together. So, I think that this is not something you can track down on your own, because you can’t even get the power on. The electrician is going to have to do this with the power off and see if we can trace out that circuit, see what it’s serving.

Do you know – have any idea where it’s going to?

GARY: Yeah, kind of. Yep. There’s …

TOM: Well, is there something not working? Is there lighting not working? Are there outlets not working? Where do you think it’s going? It’s not on, so …

GARY: Yeah, a whole room. Yeah, whole room, yeah.

TOM: So there’s one room. OK.

So, then, what he’ll probably do is – and they’re going to have to open up the outlets and the switches and the lighting fixtures in that room and check out every connection point and see if there’s any evidence. There could be something burning in there. You don’t know. So, you definitely need to have an electrician check it out. I would go to HomeAdvisor.com and find an electrician through there. You can pick one that’s got great ratings and schedule an appointment and see what happens.

But it’s definitely not something you should do yourself. If it was, I’d tell you but this is beyond the average homeowner’s skill set. It’s potentially dangerous and it’s important for your safety and to make sure your house doesn’t burn down. OK?

GARY: OK. Thank you.

TOM: Good luck.