Troubleshooting

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A1cbr

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I got a call today about a circuit tripping.
The owner tells me about 3 in the morning the breaker trips. So he resets the breaker and with in 5 minutes it trips again.
I go out there this afternoon and cannot seem to find anything wrong. I check circuit and the current with everything on that circuit had less than 5 amps. There is no loose connections and well everything is working fine while I am there. Its been hour and half since I was out there and then it trips again. I am wondering if the breaker is going bad. Does anyone have any suggestions?
 
Touch any of the extension cords checking for wear & tear or heat ? !
Sounds like the perfect reason to megger!
 
He did mention that there was a storm saturday. But a whole day passes with out the breaker even tripping. So I dont think lightening could be the culprit.
 
Without knowing everything that's on that circuit, it's going to be difficult to troubleshoot an accurate direction to go.

Maybe there's a window AC. Attic fan. Powered roof exhaust. Are the smokes on this circuit as well? Bathroom lights? Maybe an outside motion sensor got added somewhere along the line.

Point is, you can't rely 100% on either what the HO tells you, or the panel directory.

You can try to change the breaker and see if that solves the problem. Breakers are mechanical, and do break down just like anything else made by human hands. But that 'solution', at best, is a shot in the dark.
 
A1cbr said:
Does anyone have any suggestions?
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The possibilities:

1. The breaker is tripping with less than 15a - defective breaker.

2. The current exceeds 15a for a while - breaker doing its job.

3. There's a short in something - again, breaker doing its job.

My guess is #2, and re-read 480's ideas, especially about the A/C unit.

You have to explain to him that he needs to track everything that is on when it trips - and not on when it doesn't.
 
The only thing that I found that was on the circuit was Master bed room lights and receptacle and the closet. That was all that I found to be off.
 
ultramegabob said:
how did he know it tripped at 3am? did he just happen to be awake, or was he doing something that may be part of the issue?
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Trust me Bob... when you get to a certain age (read: vintage), you do, umm, er, .... 'certain things' at 3AM every morning. And 5AM. And 7AM. and 9AM....:grin:
 
A1cbr said:
The only thing that I found that was on the circuit was Master bed room lights and receptacle and the closet. That was all that I found to be off.
Click to expand...

Again, there could be a load that is off during the day that you don't know is on that circuit.

Another thing to look at is whether the boxes are metal. Maybe a bare hot wire is contacting the metal box due to expansion/contraction & shorting out. Or the bare ground is near a terminal on a device. I've seen this happen in circuits that have never had a problem for the first 50 years of service.
 
Well I put amp meter on the circuit at the panel. It was reading less than 5 amps with everything on. That included Tv, ceiling fan,lights, and lamps.
I was thinking a bad breaker. But you like you said if its tripping after a while the current is building up then the breaker is doing its job.
 
480sparky said:
Again, there could be a load that is off during the day that you don't know is on that circuit.

Another thing to look at is whether the boxes are metal. Maybe a bare hot wire is contacting the metal box due to expansion/contraction & shorting out. Or the bare ground is near a terminal on a device. I've seen this happen in circuits that have never had a problem for the first 50 years of service.
Click to expand...

BINGO...that's what I was thinking, and a possible ground fault could have cleared itself, burning back the problem and increasing the gap.
 
My vote is for something goofy that takes you four hours to find and then you either
A. Are so pissed off that you just spent 4 hours looking for the problem that you charge every nickel and dime possible or...
B. You feel bad that it was right in front of the whole time and charge about ten bucks an hour.
 
trouble shooting

trouble shooting

I am curious if they have any power strips plugged in? have had them go bad & will randomly start to trip a breaker. just another thought. hope we will be able to hear what u do find out problem to be???Good luck
 
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