James L
Senior Member
- Location
- Kansas Cty, Mo, USA
- Occupation
- Electrician
Working on a new home come and realized every time I come in the house the breaker for the main floor lighting is tripped. This has been going on for months.
We installed all the receptacles and switches. recessed trims and oitdoor floodlights back in December, and untold number of changes has dragged the project along. So this tripping has happened at least 25 or 30 times that I know of. But never trips while I'm there.
The circuit starts at the switch for the hallway (5 recessed) near the garage, around to a USB receptacle at a shoe bench, over to a single gang for a recess light in the laundry room, over to a 2 gang near the back door which switches 4 floodlights and one large 3rd floor flood light, a 2 gang for kitchen cans and pendants, dining room 2 ganf switching recessed lights and a chandelier, and a 4 gang at the front door switching recessed lights in living room, front oorch, above garage doors and 3rd floor balcony ceiling.
Both the 3rd- floor flood and the 3rd floor balcony lighting are on 3way switches from 1st- floor to 3rd - flood light is at rear of house and so are switches. Balcony lighting is on front and side, both 1st- and 3rd- floor switches at front.
Basically, this circuit wraps the entire 1st floor and has two 3-way switching circuits shooting up to the 3rd floor.
When we roughed in, the switch legs for the 3rd floor flood and cans both had to be stubbed out in the same place because of the home construction. But we had an incident - the guy I had helping me installed that outside lighting and made it all up. And he cut both switch legs at a can light. Now the switch leg for the floodlight was not long enough.
No biggie, I told him. Just splice it in that can light and extend it over to the flood. So he did.
Fast forward numerous months and this is the circuit that's tripping, and I didn't give any thought to that lighting on the 3rd floor until I went to install the floodlight and recessed trims (had temp bulbs prior). There was no power to the flood when I turned on the switch. I realized the breaker had tripped.
I took apart the 3rd floor switch for the flood and disconnected the wires, and the breaker held. I went back to the switch and realized there was power on the traveller AND the switch leg. Odd, considering the traveler came from below and the switch leg went out above.
Then it occurred to me what had happened. When the wire for the floodlight got spliced into the can, there were 4 cables - in and out on the flood, in and out on the cans. But the dimwit connected all 4 of them together
So I separated them as they should be, and that circuit hasn't tripped again.
So here's the curious part. All of the lighting and all of those switches are on the same circuit. All the switches are connected from the power circuit jumping jumping from switch to switch on the first floor. But in this trouble spot, they were also connected on the 3rd floor through those switch legs and travellers.
I can't see how that would cause a trip.
But apparently it did because it seems fixed now
We installed all the receptacles and switches. recessed trims and oitdoor floodlights back in December, and untold number of changes has dragged the project along. So this tripping has happened at least 25 or 30 times that I know of. But never trips while I'm there.
The circuit starts at the switch for the hallway (5 recessed) near the garage, around to a USB receptacle at a shoe bench, over to a single gang for a recess light in the laundry room, over to a 2 gang near the back door which switches 4 floodlights and one large 3rd floor flood light, a 2 gang for kitchen cans and pendants, dining room 2 ganf switching recessed lights and a chandelier, and a 4 gang at the front door switching recessed lights in living room, front oorch, above garage doors and 3rd floor balcony ceiling.
Both the 3rd- floor flood and the 3rd floor balcony lighting are on 3way switches from 1st- floor to 3rd - flood light is at rear of house and so are switches. Balcony lighting is on front and side, both 1st- and 3rd- floor switches at front.
Basically, this circuit wraps the entire 1st floor and has two 3-way switching circuits shooting up to the 3rd floor.
When we roughed in, the switch legs for the 3rd floor flood and cans both had to be stubbed out in the same place because of the home construction. But we had an incident - the guy I had helping me installed that outside lighting and made it all up. And he cut both switch legs at a can light. Now the switch leg for the floodlight was not long enough.
No biggie, I told him. Just splice it in that can light and extend it over to the flood. So he did.
Fast forward numerous months and this is the circuit that's tripping, and I didn't give any thought to that lighting on the 3rd floor until I went to install the floodlight and recessed trims (had temp bulbs prior). There was no power to the flood when I turned on the switch. I realized the breaker had tripped.
I took apart the 3rd floor switch for the flood and disconnected the wires, and the breaker held. I went back to the switch and realized there was power on the traveller AND the switch leg. Odd, considering the traveler came from below and the switch leg went out above.
Then it occurred to me what had happened. When the wire for the floodlight got spliced into the can, there were 4 cables - in and out on the flood, in and out on the cans. But the dimwit connected all 4 of them together
So I separated them as they should be, and that circuit hasn't tripped again.
So here's the curious part. All of the lighting and all of those switches are on the same circuit. All the switches are connected from the power circuit jumping jumping from switch to switch on the first floor. But in this trouble spot, they were also connected on the 3rd floor through those switch legs and travellers.
I can't see how that would cause a trip.
But apparently it did because it seems fixed now
