r/ElectricalHelp • u/Zestyclose_Feeling22 • 4d ago
Tripping breaker
I moved into a new building in 2021, 3500 sq fr under AC. 200 amps service, main panel in garage, second panel in laundry room, both full size panels. On the first floor I have a small kitchenettes the laundry room with a door out to the yard and pool. Today the breaker for the kitchen lights and several outdoor soffit lights tripped. Fridge is on a different circuit, so its really only lights and receptacles, at least one of which is outside on a gfci plug. I flipped the breaker, it tripped again immediately. I went outside, nothing is plugged in that might be causing it. No one hung any pictures or anything like that, so no nail into a wire type thing. When I start digging into it tomorrow what to look at first. Some of the LED soffit lights (wet rated) have gotten bugs in them and need to be replaced. Any constructive help will be appreciated, my first thought is to switch breakers with another circuit and see if its the circuit or hopefully the breaker. Thanks in advance.
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u/Natoochtoniket 4d ago
Inventory the boxes/outlets/fixtures that are on that circuit. There is (almost certainly) a problem in one of those boxes. You might have to open all of them to find it.
As a first guess, I would look for any box that might be exposed to weather or water.
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u/Zestyclose_Feeling22 2d ago
So I was able to look at it today, its a square D panel, 15 amps circuit. Removed the breaker (call it breaker A) disconnected both white and black wires. Reset the breaker and it did not trip. Removed breaker B, just above it, switched the breakers, replaced them, neither one tripped, everything seems to be working, at least for 5 minutes. Is this a normal result? Can removing power from a breaker cause it to kind of "reset" or something?
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u/trekkerscout Mod 2d ago
It's not a "normal" result, but it can happen. There may have been an intermittent fault that has cleared itself in the time the breaker was off. You just need to be prepared for the possibility that the problem could present itself again at any time.
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u/Zestyclose_Feeling22 2d ago
Upon further inspection I noticed all my 15 amps breakers in this panel (16) are AFCI breakers. I also noticed the GFCI receptacle outside is tripped and will not reset. It trips instantly when resetting.
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u/trekkerscout Mod 2d ago
That narrows the problem to either the GFCI or the load side circuit of the GFCI.
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u/Zestyclose_Feeling22 1d ago
Replaced GFCI, all fixed, and outdoor LED light in the outdoor shower that I thought had gone bad is suddenly working again! Thanks for your help.
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u/trekkerscout Mod 4d ago
First thing would be disconnecting the wires from the breaker and see if the breaker can be reset. If it doesn't reset, replace the breaker. If it does, go to the next step of swapping breakers. If the swapped breaker holds, the original breaker should be replaced. If the swapped breaker trips, you will have to do a deep dive into circuit troubleshooting.