Why Circuit Breakers Trip and Fuses Blow
OK, so the circuit breaker tripped. You go to the basement and locate the electrical panel, reset the circuit breaker and "pop", it trips again,
or it trips again when you go back upstairs and turn back on what you were using when it tripped in the first place. At this point you need to
stop and identify the root cause of the problem making the circuit breaker trip. Circuit breakers are designed to trip
(fuses in your fuse box are designed to blow) and turn off power when any of the following dangerous situations occur:
Overloaded Circuit
An overloaded circuit is the primary reason for a breaker tripping and occurs when a circuit is has more connected electrical
load than it is supposed to have. When more current runs through the circuit than the circuit was intended to take, the circuit
breaker is designed to, well,"break the circuit."Circuit breakers come in different ratings that determine how much current they
will allow to flow through the circuit.
If a 15 Amp circuit breaker is protecting a 15 Amp circuit, and 20 Amps of current start to flow through it because a hair dryer,
TV and small personal heater were all connected to the same circuit and were on at the same time (even if on different outlets)
then the circuit breaker trips to prevent overheating ( FIRE ) of the circuit .