Home Repair forum - Can a circuit breaker go bad?

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Can a circuit breaker go bad?

Joy

2008-04-02, 5:25 pm

Last night we had a thunderstorm and this morning, one entire circuit in
our box is dead.

The breaker was not tripped. I even turned it off and on again but that
did nothing.

One other breaker was off, but that only goes to the indoor tub\jacuzzi
which is not working so I MAY have turned it off myself a while ago, but I
don't think so. I turned that back on.

The dead circuit is for the garage door openers and some lights and
outlets in the upstairs bathrooms for the most part.

Any ideas of what may have happened?

Thanks so much.

Joy

HeyBub

2008-04-02, 5:25 pm

Joy wrote:
> Last night we had a thunderstorm and this morning, one entire circuit
> in our box is dead.
>
> The breaker was not tripped. I even turned it off and on again but
> that did nothing.
>
> One other breaker was off, but that only goes to the indoor
> tub\jacuzzi which is not working so I MAY have turned it off myself a
> while ago, but I don't think so. I turned that back on.
>
> The dead circuit is for the garage door openers and some lights and
> outlets in the upstairs bathrooms for the most part.
>
> Any ideas of what may have happened?

Yes it could be the circuit breaker. Could also be a bad connection on the
circuit.

If there's not 120 on the hot side of the circuit breaker, the circuit
breaker is the culprit.

Jeff Wisnia

2008-04-02, 5:25 pm

HeyBub wrote:

> Joy wrote:
>
>
>
> Yes it could be the circuit breaker. Could also be a bad connection on the
> circuit.
>
> If there's not 120 on the hot side of the circuit breaker, the circuit
> breaker is the culprit.
>
>

Uh, don't you mean the "load side" (its output terminal)?

We should also remind Joy that sometimes one needs to push the circuit
breaker lever firmly towards the OFF direction before moving it back to
the ON position to achieve a recet.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

HeyBub

2008-04-02, 5:25 pm

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
> HeyBub wrote:
>
>
> Uh, don't you mean the "load side" (its output terminal)?
>
> We should also remind Joy that sometimes one needs to push the circuit
> breaker lever firmly towards the OFF direction before moving it back
> to the ON position to achieve a recet.
>

Yes, you're right. But don't you mean "reset?"

Jeff Wisnia

2008-04-02, 5:25 pm

HeyBub wrote:
> Jeff Wisnia wrote:
>
>
>
> Yes, you're right. But don't you mean "reset?"
>
>
That "thwock" you just heard was me, giving myself a dope slap on the
forehead.

So.......

Don't push on that button again,
You've pushed it until it's worn thin.
It ain't no reset,
On that you can bet,
So wipe off that shit eating grin.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

Davebf303

2008-04-03, 1:26 pm

On Apr 2, 12:33=A0pm, Joy <Mycrof...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Last night we had a thunderstorm and this morning, one entire circuit in =
=A0
> our box is dead.
>
> The breaker was not tripped. I even turned it off and on again but that =
=A0
> did nothing.
>
> One other breaker was off, but that only goes to the indoor tub\jacuzzi =
=A0
> which is not working so I MAY have turned it off myself a while ago, but I=
=A0
> don't think so. I turned that back on.
>
> The dead circuit is for the garage door openers and some lights and =A0
> outlets in the upstairs bathrooms for the most part.
>
> Any ideas of what may have happened?
>
> Thanks so much.
>
> Joy

I do a lot of handyman work and you would not believe how many times
that I find a non-working garage door is simply the result of a GFI
that has been tripped by a hair dryer or heater plugged into the bath
circuit. Don't feel too bad that you didn't catch it earlier. What
you went through is very common.

SteveB

2008-04-03, 1:26 pm

"Davebf303" <davebf303@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:67f41c0f-46e4-4bed-aa0c-5ca85a280c1a@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
On Apr 2, 12:33 pm, Joy <Mycrof...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Last night we had a thunderstorm and this morning, one entire circuit in
> our box is dead.
>
> The breaker was not tripped. I even turned it off and on again but that
> did nothing.
>
> One other breaker was off, but that only goes to the indoor tub\jacuzzi
> which is not working so I MAY have turned it off myself a while ago, but I
> don't think so. I turned that back on.
>
> The dead circuit is for the garage door openers and some lights and
> outlets in the upstairs bathrooms for the most part.
>
> Any ideas of what may have happened?
>
> Thanks so much.
>
> Joy

I do a lot of handyman work and you would not believe how many times
that I find a non-working garage door is simply the result of a GFI
that has been tripped by a hair dryer or heater plugged into the bath
circuit. Don't feel too bad that you didn't catch it earlier. What
you went through is very common.

I have a house I bought nearly two years ago. Just a few days ago, I
finally found out ALL the outlets that go out when a GFCI pops in the
bathroom. One really feels stupid when this happens.

Steve

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