Common Circuit Breaker Issues & Solutions

Having trouble with circuit breakers tripping in the Greenville area? Roby Services has put together this quick guide to the most common reasons your circuit breaker is tripping and what you can do to resolve the issue. Sometimes, circuit breaker problems indicate a serious issue with your home wiring — something that could lead to shocks, fires, or destroyed appliances if not resolved by our expert team.

Want help with your circuit breaker issues today? Contact the team at Roby Services to schedule service anywhere from Greer to Easley.

Overloaded Circuits

The most common source of circuit breaker issues is also the most mundane and the easiest to fix. If one of the circuits in your house — the connection of wires, connections, and outlets fed through a single circuit breaker — carries too much current, it will trip your circuit breaker. It might not happen immediately but instead occurs when a device has a surge of power usage. An air conditioner kicking on, a computer or gaming console drawing more power for complex operations, and similar.

There are two ways this can be solved. The simplest and most affordable is to shuffle a few items around so you don’t have so much on one circuit. If you have a home appliance, a home entertainment center, and a bedroom on one circuit, try to move the home appliance or entertainment center to an outlet on a different circuit — or just be wary of which devices you have running simultaneously. A single faulty or high-powered appliance could also cause this.

If that’s not an option, you can work with a professional to update your home circuits. Adding a new circuit to your panel or upgrading your panel to handle more power can be a great upgrade for your home.

Loose Wire Connections

Loose connections are another common source of circuit breaker issues. Loose wires are much more likely to trigger GFCIs (Ground Fault Interceptor Circuits), the safer outlets and circuits used in kitchens, bathrooms, and other places with a higher risk of electric shock. Unlike a standard circuit breaker circuit responding to too much electricity, GFCIs check for discrepancies of power going in and coming out and cut off in response — that way, power isn’t getting dumped into a person, device, wall insulation, etc., and causing a shock or fire.

This issue can occur with even the best wiring work after enough time; homes shift and settle, and wires expand and contract enough that good connections become bad ones. Of course, loose wire connections can also result from a mistake or some specific accident, like something heavy hitting your wall in the wrong spot.

Professional inspection is usually needed to determine and fix the problem because it involves the specifics of your wiring and will require electrical knowledge to repair, replace, or tighten connections appropriately without violating building codes.

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Lack of Wire Insulation

Poor or damaged wire insulation can also lead to problems similar to loose wire connections, where the wire shorts somewhere within your wall, dumping electricity and triggering GFCIs. As with loose wires, this can be even more dangerous if it doesn’t involve a GFCI, i.e., if wires are touching and linking circuits or power is passing into something other than the wire, creating a fire hazard.

This most commonly occurs due to insulation erosion over time. However, it can also be a result of cut corners from electricians or previous owners or very, very outdated wiring not held to modern safety standards. Regardless of why it’s occurred, it’s important to hand this problem off to professionals to be resolved — it’s not just a frustrating source of tripped breakers, it’s a significant source of risk for electrical fires.

Why Choose Roby Services in SC?

Homeowners in the Greenville area can always count on Roby Services as their one-stop shop for electrical services. Whether you’re dealing with tripping breakers or any other electrical issue, we’ll be glad to help with the highest quality of service and integrity.

Contact Roby Services to resolve your circuit breaker problems in Piedmont or Fountain Inn today. We look forward to hearing from you.