How to Reset a Tripped Breaker
What to do when a circuit breaker trips.
A power breaker trip is an annoying occurrence when the power shuts off and you can't use the microwave, lights, or router. A breaker trip is far more than simply annoying when you need that router to send off a time-sensitive work assignment or when medical devices are diverted to time-limited standby power. Fortunately, it's easy to fix a circuit breaker trip in just a few minutes.
Tripped Circuit Breaker
A tripped circuit breaker is when a circuit breaker automatically shuts off to prevent devices on the circuit from overheating or from receiving excessive power. A circuit breaker protects your home against damaging or harmful short circuits and overloads.
What Causes a Tripped Circuit Breaker
- Overloaded circuits: When too many devices are operating on the same circuit and are attempting to pull a higher power load than the circuit can carry, the circuit breaker will trip.
- High-power devices: High amp devices like microwaves, dryers, wall heaters, or A/Cs are turned on for sustained periods, they can cause a power breaker trip.
- Short circuits: In a short circuit, a powered or hot wire makes contact with a neutral wire or when wires are loosened.
- Ground faults: In a ground fault, a hot wire touches anything that is grounded, such as the side of a metal electrical box, an appliance, an outlet, or a bare ground wire.
Need more help? Talk to an electrician near you
Watch Now: How to Safely Reset a Tripped Circuit Breaker
Safety Considerations
Working around an electrical service panel or circuit breaker board can be dangerous. Your home’s entire electrical load is contained in that box, concentrated around the metal lugs where the service drop’s wires enter the box. Unscrewing and removing the inner dead-front cover within the service panel exposes the highly powered lugs.
What You'll Need
Equipment / Tools
- Flashlight
- Circuit breaker directory (if available)
- Rubber-soled shoes
- Safety glasses
Instructions
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Locate a Flashlight
Circuit breaker panels tend to be located in out-of-the-way locations with little, if any, ambient light. Find a flashlight. Use the light from a phone if necessary.
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Turn Off Devices on the Circuit
Turn off all devices on the electrical circuit. This includes the device that may have caused the breaker to trip, such as a microwave, hairdryer, or A/C, plus all other devices on the same circuit.
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Find the Electric Service Panel
The electric service panel, sometimes called a circuit breaker board, is a metal box with a door. The box may be inset in a wall, its face flush with the wall, or surface-mounted where the entire box is exposed.
Places to look: garage, closet, pantry near the kitchen, basement, mudroom, hallway leading to garage or backyard.
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Open the Door to the Service Panel
Open the door to the service panel by sliding the plastic switch to the side or up. Next, swing the door open. Use the inset plastic switch as a handle to pull the door open.
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Locate Tripped Breaker
The handle of a tripped circuit breaker should be in the middle position—not left or right. Visually or by feel, locate any breaker handles that differ from the right or left positions:
- Tripped breakers: Tripped circuit breakers have a soft or springy feeling when you lightly press them leftward or rightward.
- Live/active breakers: Breakers that are not tripped are either firmly left or right (depending on which side of the box you're looking at).
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Turn the Circuit Breaker Handle to OFF Position
Flip the circuit breaker handle to its firm OFF position, toward the outer edge of the service panel (away from the centerline).
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Turn the Circuit Breaker Handle to ON Position
Flip the circuit breaker handle to its firm ON position, toward the centerline of the service panel. The handle should seat firmly in place and should make an audible click.
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Test Circuit
Turn the device such as the light or A/C back on. If you believe the breaker tripped due to an overload, it’s best to turn on only one device at this time, not multiple devices. Also, choose a device with a lower power draw such as a light fixture.
How to Avoid Tripped Breakers
- Remove some devices from the overloaded circuit and plug them into other circuits that aren’t drawing as much power.
- Avoid running many devices on the circuit at the same time. In a kitchen, for example, stage cooking activities that require power so that they happen in succession, not all at once.
- Install GFCI outlets so that the outlet shuts off before the entire circuit breaker shuts down in the case of a ground circuit. Just note that GFCI outlets are not circuit overload protection, but protection against dangerous ground faults.
- Replace old outlets, light fixtures, and switches which may create short circuits or trip breakers.
- Have an electrician separate hardwired devices that are drawing too much power from a single circuit. The electrician can move devices to another circuit or can set up an entirely new circuit to relieve the load.
- Replace the circuit breaker.
When to Call a Professional
A qualified, licensed electrician is trained to detect the cause of tripped breakers and to fix those causes. If your problem of tripped circuit breakers is more than just an overloaded circuit, you may want to seek the help of an electrician. Unless you are an advanced do-it-yourselfer, it’s best to hire an electrician to wire up a new circuit breaker.