Electrical shorts in home wiring should be inspected and repaired by a licensed electrician discontinue use of the switch or plug until the pro takes care of the problem. Don’t use the appliance again until it can be fixed, or you risk getting a shock.īecause a short circuit can also occur in a wall switch or an outlet, if the breaker trips every time you turn on a specific light switch or plug something into a certain outlet, that indicates the location of the short. If the breaker for that room trips, there’s a short in the appliance. If you notice that using a specific appliance, such as your vacuum, trips the breaker every time you turn it on, try plugging it into an outlet in a different room. When you plug in or turn on an appliance that has a short in its wiring, it will immediately trip the circuit-whether or not anything else is running. To find out if an appliance has a short, perform a test similar to the one you did for an overloaded circuit. When an electrical short occurs, it triggers a sudden surge of electricity through the wires, and the circuit breaker trips. A short can occur in an outlet, a switch, or within an appliance if wires are loose or damaged by mice or pets chewing through them. Investigate for a short circuit.Ī “short” circuit means that two wires that should not be coming in contact with each other are inadvertently touching. In your situation, having a separate circuit to handle the part of the kitchen that’s now on your living room circuit would allow you to use your kitchen appliances (mixer, bread machine, toaster) without fear of overloading the living room circuit. The best long-term solution, however, is to have an electrician update your home’s wiring to add additional circuits. You may need to go through the process several times to get a good idea of how many appliances you can operate at one time before overloading the circuit.Ĭircuit overload is one of the most common reasons for circuit breakers tripping, and you can prevent it from happening by running fewer appliances at the same time on that circuit. If the breaker trips before you turn on all the appliances, try the experiment again, this time turning on the appliances in a different order. Each time you turn on a light or run an appliance, you’ll be drawing more electricity through the wires. Wait a few minutes in between to see if the circuit will remain on. Flip the breaker back on and then turn on the switches and plug in/turn on devices one at a time. To test for circuit overload, the next time the breaker trips, go to the electrical panel and turn off all the switches in the affected area and unplug all appliances, lamps, and other devices. This type of wiring configuration is commonly seen in homes more than 40 years old, before we used a lot of electrical appliances and gadgets (big screen TVs, PCs, space heaters, and powerful kitchen appliances). This indicates that a single circuit is powering multiple outlets and switches, which is probably too much of a burden on the circuit. You mention that when the breaker trips, power goes out in your living room and part of your kitchen. Photo: Test for circuit overload.Ī circuit overloads when more electrical current is being drawn through the wires than they can handle, causing them to overheat and trip the circuit breaker.
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