circuit breaker keeps tripping

[Anthony Guzzi]

In my girlfriend's apartment, the circuit breaker for the kitchen keeps
tripping. This only started happening a couple days ago. After
resetting the breaker, it takes about a day before it trips again, not
right away. What could be the cause of this?

Before I simply get "call an electrician" my situation is that she and I
are both full time university students, and have no money at all. Her
landlord is very slow, if ever, to respond to any maintance requests.

I am also a full time student, however I am a lot more capable than
most, I also work in the electrical department at a major home
improvement store, and can do a good many tasks that many of my peers
can not. I think I could fix her problem if I knew what was wrong and
how to fix it.

The circuit breaker for the kitchen is a 30 amp, double pole of course.

Help.

 

[Anthony Guzzi]

That sounds wrong. In the USA, which you appear to be in, circuits for
receptacles would have 15 or 20 amp, generally single pole. Two-pole
circuits would be for 240 volt receptacles, otherwise it's 120 volts.
A two pole 30 amp breaker sounds like it would be for an electric clothes
dryer, or an electric water heater, or a central air conditioner/heater.

If it really is a 30 amp breaker powering ordinary 15 or 20 amp outlets,
there's a code violation right there. You may be able to get the local
building/electrical inspector to force the landlord's hand sooner than
legal aid could do. But there is a very slight risk the building could
also be condemned if the landlord refuses to fix it, and your girlfriend
will be out on the street (or over at your place).

There is one thing in the kitchen that is 240 volts. The electric
range. That requires a 2-pole breaker. Now that I think about it, I
learned at my work that most electric ranges use 30 amps also.

However I also think I remember hearing that major appliances like that
are required to be on their own seperate circuit. But this breaker very
obviously controls more than just the electric range.
Perhaps it was grandfathered in, cause that doesn't sound right.


Since I made the first post, I may have found out what the problem is,
but I am not 100% sure. She convieniently forgot to tell me earlier
that the heating coil in the oven died about the same time as all this
started happening. I think that it is now drawing too much power and
making the breaker trip. Would this be a correct?

 

[Rusty]

| In my girlfriend's apartment, the circuit breaker for the kitchen keeps
| tripping. This only started happening a couple days ago. After
| resetting the breaker, it takes about a day before it trips again, not
| right away. What could be the cause of this?

Lots of things are possible.

1. Sometimes a few breakers will have a lower rating as they age.
This is rare, but not unknown.

2. A loose connection on the breaker is heating it up, making the
thermal element hotter than it should be. This is a "could burn
the place down" risk.

3. Added appliances could be reaching the load limit on the circuit.

4. Some appliance is defective (and dangerous).

Check the breaker in question carefully to see if it feels warmer or
hotter than other breakers. If so, shut off all the appliances and
wait an hour, then shut off the breaker (look away as you do this,
since there is a small, but non-zero, risk that the breaker is damaged
as a result of the heat, and this may be the instant it chooses to
physically break and cause its own short). Leave it off and report
to the landlord that there is an electrical fire hazard (because
there really is ... a loose connection could result in burning the
whole place down).


| Before I simply get "call an electrician" my situation is that she and I
| are both full time university students, and have no money at all. Her
| landlord is very slow, if ever, to respond to any maintance requests.
|
| I am also a full time student, however I am a lot more capable than
| most, I also work in the electrical department at a major home
| improvement store, and can do a good many tasks that many of my peers
| can not. I think I could fix her problem if I knew what was wrong and
| how to fix it.

In virtually all jurisdictions, doing electrical work like that in other
than a homeowner occupied residence is illegal. And that's not even
addressing the issue of your liability for causing damage to property
that belongs to someone else (including other tenants if there are any
and something burns down as a result of your mistake). If you cannot
get the landlord to do the right thing and fix this ... if it is indeed
a problem that belongs to the landlord ... then you need to look for
some legal help to pressure the landlord to do so. Do not try this
yourself even if it becomes clear what the problem is.


| The circuit breaker for the kitchen is a 30 amp, double pole of course.

That sounds wrong. In the USA, which you appear to be in, circuits for
receptacles would have 15 or 20 amp, generally single pole. Two-pole
circuits would be for 240 volt receptacles, otherwise it's 120 volts.
A two pole 30 amp breaker sounds like it would be for an electric clothes
dryer, or an electric water heater, or a central air conditioner/heater.

If it really is a 30 amp breaker powering ordinary 15 or 20 amp outlets,
there's a code violation right there. You may be able to get the local
building/electrical inspector to force the landlord's hand sooner than
legal aid could do. But there is a very slight risk the building could
also be condemned if the landlord refuses to fix it, and your girlfriend
will be out on the street (or over at your place).

Phil has covered most of it but I suppose the breaker isn't an arc
fault or GFCI type. If the oven element is leaking to ground it
could trip either of these.

The present code requires that all kitchen outlets above the counter
should be on separate 15 amp breakers with the top and bottom
outlets of any one receptacle on different breakers by removing the
brass link that joins them. Also adjacent outlets may not be on the
same pair of breakers. It sounds as though your situation is very
far from the present code.

It is certainly not a safe situation so please follow Phil's advice.

 

[Rowbotth]

| In my girlfriend's apartment, the circuit breaker for the kitchen keeps
| tripping. This only started happening a couple days ago. After
| resetting the breaker, it takes about a day before it trips again, not
| right away. What could be the cause of this?

Lots of things are possible.

1. Sometimes a few breakers will have a lower rating as they age.
This is rare, but not unknown.

2. A loose connection on the breaker is heating it up, making the
thermal element hotter than it should be. This is a "could burn
the place down" risk.

3. Added appliances could be reaching the load limit on the circuit.

4. Some appliance is defective (and dangerous).

Check the breaker in question carefully to see if it feels warmer or
hotter than other breakers. If so, shut off all the appliances and
wait an hour, then shut off the breaker (look away as you do this,
since there is a small, but non-zero, risk that the breaker is damaged
as a result of the heat, and this may be the instant it chooses to
physically break and cause its own short). Leave it off and report
to the landlord that there is an electrical fire hazard (because
there really is ... a loose connection could result in burning the
whole place down).

He could also do the same warmth test a few hours after the breaker is
reset - for all the kitchen receptacles and lights. Also the "Sniff"
test?

 

[Rowbotth]

There is one thing in the kitchen that is 240 volts. The electric
range. That requires a 2-pole breaker. Now that I think about it, I
learned at my work that most electric ranges use 30 amps also.

However I also think I remember hearing that major appliances like that
are required to be on their own seperate circuit. But this breaker very
obviously controls more than just the electric range.
Perhaps it was grandfathered in, cause that doesn't sound right.


Since I made the first post, I may have found out what the problem is,
but I am not 100% sure. She convieniently forgot to tell me earlier
that the heating coil in the oven died about the same time as all this
started happening. I think that it is now drawing too much power and
making the breaker trip. Would this be a correct?

The heating coil may be shorting to ground, depending upon the mode of
failure. Or it may have a poor connection to ground, which will take
time to draw the current you need to trip the breaker.

And maybe some ranges may have fuses which should protect the coil -
I've been a gas range user for the past 20 years , so I'm not up on what
is fuse protected on a range.

 

[Anthony Guzzi]

| The present code requires that all kitchen outlets above the counter
| should be on separate 15 amp breakers with the top and bottom
| outlets of any one receptacle on different breakers by removing the
| brass link that joins them. Also adjacent outlets may not be on the
| same pair of breakers. It sounds as though your situation is very
| far from the present code.

Newer code only requires 2 circuits. It does not require they be
split. It does require GFCI protection now, which makes splitting
not an easy option (can be done, but more complex or costly). And
the capacity requirement is now 20 amps (I dare then to try to raise
that again). They do have to be fairly close now (2 feet) so there
would be many. Alternating them between circuits makes sense, and
is the way I've seen a few installations done.

Yeah. This is an older apartment. I don't know how old.

I'm in Northern California, by the way.