Circuit Breaker Repairs

A circuit breaker is a component of the modern consumer unit that can protect against electrical fires, electric shocks and overloads to the circuits. If you have an old build home, there is a high chance that you may not have any circuit breakers present in your consumer unit, if this is the case, it is a good idea to get them installed for your own safety. If you have a circuit breaker malfunction, we are more than happy to perform the necessary repairs.

 

WHAT IS A CIRCUIT BREAKER?

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If you have a high number of electrical devices, each using a high number of amps on the same circuit, then an electrical fire could occur as the plug becomes overloaded and blows up or potentially becomes too hot and melts away. Because of the increased need for extension plugs required in a property as electrical device use increases there is a need for measures to be put in place to protect the circuits from overloading and prevent over current; this is where a circuit breaker comes in.

Usually, there is a circuit breaker assigned to each room of a building or property, therefore, if the circuits overload in one room, then the circuit breaker will trip and cut off electricity to the single room only, instead of the entire building.

A circuit breaker protects against over current which is a fault within the circuit itself and can even trip if a cable within the circuit becomes loose or faulty.

 

COMMON REASONS WHY CIRCUIT BREAKERS TRIP

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• Circuit Overload – This is the most common reason why a circuit breaker would trip. This happens when you’re trying to get a circuit to provide you with more electricity than it is capable of. If your circuit can provide 15 amps in total and you plug your hair dryer in which could send it to 18 amps, then the circuit is not capable of providing this much electricity, therefore, it could fry all electrical appliances plugged in which would cause sparks and maybe even a fire and destruction of the electrical object is likely to occur. However, the circuit breaker trips to prevent this from happening.

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• Short Circuit – This is caused by a hot wire meeting with a neutral wire. This causes a surge of energy to flow through the circuit which would cause overheating; the circuit breaker would trip to stop this from happening as an electrical fire would be likely to occur. These can be caused by a faulty wire or a loose connection. If there is a burning smell around your circuit breaker when it trips, then a short circuit is the likely cause which needs to be addressed and repaired as soon as possible.

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• Ground Fault Surges – This is where the hot wire meets the ground wire, like a short circuit, the circuit breaker will trip to protect against damage and fires. If there is discolouration found on your outlet, then it is likely the circuit breaker was tripped from a ground fault surge.