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When the power goes out in one room or one area of your house, you’ve most likely tripped a circuit breaker. This may be a one time occurrence, or it might be happening over and over again. Not only is this an annoyance, there might be some more serious underlying electrical issues. We’ll help you troubleshoot what is going on.
HOW TO RESET THE CIRCUIT BREAKER
To reset the circuit breaker after the power goes out, here are some steps:
- Find the circiuit breaker box. It’s usually a gray or white metal box on the wall in the laundry room, utility room, kitchen, or nearby. But if you don’t find it there, check the entire interior and exterior of the house.
- Find the tripped breaker. When you open the box, you will see several switches, which sometimes are labeled with the names of the rooms they power. If there are no labels, you can usually tell which one is tripped because it will be the only one facing the opposite direction of the other breakers in its row. If you don’t see one that is flipped, reset all of the breakers. Even if the switch is not visibly flipped over, it may still have tripped.
- Safety precautions: do not flip the circuit breakers if the floor is wet. For best safety practice, turn off all of the switches and unplug all of the appliances in the room where the power is out before resetting the circuit breaker.
- Flip the breaker all the way to the off position and back on. If the power comes back on, your problem is solved.
- If the breaker immediately trips again, it’s time to do some troubleshooting. If you haven’t already unplugged all the appliances, go ahead and do that. Now reset the breaker.
- Once the power is back on, turn on the light switches and begin plugging in appliances one by one to find out if a particular appliance tripped the breaker.
- If you are unable to reset the breaker, you may have an electrical short, faulty wiring, or a number of issues. In this case–you guessed–it’s time to call an electrician. In order to resolve the issue, they made need to add a circuit to your house in order to handle the regular electrical load, or they may need to correct faulty wiring.
- If this is a recurring problem and you don’t identify a particular energy-sucking appliance causing the issue, you should call an electrician. You may have an issue with your electrical wiring that needs to be addressed in order to prevent an electrical fire.
HOW DOES A CIRCUIT BREAKER WORK
A circuit breaker’s main function is to protect our homes by shutting off the power when there is a problem with the circuit that could cause a fire. The circuit breaker shuts off or “trips” when there is too much electricity flowing through the circuit. In this case, the circuit is “overloaded.” However, an electrical short or a ground fault at an outlet could also be the cause. These are more serious issues that occur when wires that are not supposed to touch come in contact with each other or the metal outlet box. You may see sparks at the outlet when you plug something in, and you may also have problems with the electricity going in and out. This is a fire hazard that you should address immediately.
If you have frequent electrical issues or your house is more than 40 years old, it may be time to rewire your house. The licensed electricians at Palmer Electric are on hand to troubleshoot your issue with tripped circuit breakers and ensure that your electrical wiring is safe for your home.
LICENSED ELECTRICIANS IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA
Is your circuit breaker constantly tripping and you can’t figure out the cause? Turn to the Electricians at Palmer Electric like homeowners and business owners have done for circuit and wiring issues since 1951. Our Licensed Electricians can assist you in getting the power back on and will ensure your home’s electrical wiring is safe. Visit our contact page or call us for a free quote to rely on the professionals.
