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Can a bad outlet cause a breaker to trip even though nothing is plugged into it?
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
If you are referring to the outlets, then you most likely have an open circuit: a wire may not be connected to one of the outlets, not completing the circuit. What I would do is turn the breaker on and off then plug something into the outlets and see where you are losing power.
It could even just be a loose wire. If you still do not have any power and you do not have - or really know how to use - an electrical test meter, I would suggest you seek help.
Popping a breaker means a heavy load I do not know what type of panel box you have or how old it is, you still need an electrical meter or help to correct this problem if the breaker failed to trip.
Non-functioning outlets(LIFE SAFETY WARNING! [disclaimer]Electricity is dangerous!
You can be injured or killed!
Improper installations can cause fire, injury and death!
Should you be doing this yourself?)
1.] The breaker may be tripped, but not have an external mechanical indication [the handle stuck]. Reset your breakers anyway and the circuit may reset.
2.] The breaker may have failed and needs to be replaced.
3.] One of the splices or screw termination connections for the conductors in the circuit failed completely or partially and needs to be repaired.
4.] There is some device in the circuit you have not recognized that is interrupting the circuit.
If there is a bad/failed connection at a device it can often be because a "speed-wire" connection - those little stab hole terminations - in the back of a device has failed
- And remember that it can be the Hot OR the Neutral that is open!
IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS
- WORK SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY
REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.
If you do this work yourself, always turn off the power
at the breaker box/fuse panel BEFORE you attempt to do any work AND
always use an electrician's test meter having metal-tipped probes
(not a simple proximity voltage indicator)
to insure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoAnswer for USA, Canada and countries running a 60 Hz supply service.
Yes a bad outlet can cause a breaker to trip. Wires with insulation burned off in the back of the receptacle box due to bad terminations can cause the circuit to trip. A pigtail end of the ground wire due to vibration could accidentally hit the "hot" side of the receptacle. Shut the breaker off at the distribution panel for that circuit. Gently remove the receptacle from the box. While doing this look carefully for any wiring that does not look like normal wiring, look for brown or black smudge marks on the wire. Look at the receptacle itself for any electrical sparking signs. Depending on the severity of the problem either call an electrician or change the receptacle out for a new one.
As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed.
Before you do any work yourself,
on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances
always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.
IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB
SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY
REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.
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If you sleep by a outlet at night even though nothing is plugged in will it hurt you?
My bed is right in front of an unplugged electrical outlet. So far I've had no health problems. So, no, it will not hurt you (unless your made of metal, maybe)
Outlet stopped working and it is not a GFCI?
First, check the circuit breakers; make sure they are all ON. Find out if any other outlets on the same breaker are working; it's always possible that a breaker is faulty. If the breaker is on and everything else on the circuit is working, it could be as simple as a poor connection inside the outlet. Also even though the outlet is not a GFCI, it may be fed from a GFCI outlet. Check near by outlets to see if any are GFCI and are tripped.
Can a 115 volt icemaker be plugged into a 110 volt receptacle outlet?
There is no problem with that voltage. As long as the voltage is plus or minus 5% of the nominal voltage of 115 volts it is considered to be in the 120 volt range. Even though there is only a 110 volt potential at the outlet it is still rated to a voltage of 120 volts maximum. The second consideration is the amperage of the icemaker. Most 120 volt receptacles are rated at 15 amps and are fed with a #14 wire that is rated at 15 amps. As long as the icemaker does not draw more amperage than the receptacle is rated for the connection will be fine. If the icemaker draws more that 15 amps the breaker will trip.
Does it matter if a 30A dryer is plugged into a 30A outlet through a 50A pigtail?
for USA, Canada and countries running a 60 Hz power supply service.If the current draw through the circuit is less than the rated current of the circuit then there is no problem. In this case if it is a 30 Amp dryer fed through a 50 amp outlet on a pigtail that has a 30 Amp plugplugged into a 30 Amp outleton a circuit protected by a 30 Amp breaker No worries! It is wise to place an over-current device (fuses or circuit breakers) in your pigtail, though.-EDIT- Only if it's a 50A outlet. If you have 50A wiring on a 30A breaker you are quite safe.As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed.Before you do any work yourself,on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOBSAFELY AND COMPETENTLYREFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.
Loss power to air condition in attic even though circuit breaker on. Is there an internal breaker switch that needs to be reset?
There may be a breaker or more likely a pair of fuses. Yes, they may need to be reset or replaced (if fuses).
If you sleep by a outlet at night even though nothing is plugged in will it hurt you?
My bed is right in front of an unplugged electrical outlet. So far I've had no health problems. So, no, it will not hurt you (unless your made of metal, maybe)
Outlet stopped working and it is not a GFCI?
First, check the circuit breakers; make sure they are all ON. Find out if any other outlets on the same breaker are working; it's always possible that a breaker is faulty. If the breaker is on and everything else on the circuit is working, it could be as simple as a poor connection inside the outlet. Also even though the outlet is not a GFCI, it may be fed from a GFCI outlet. Check near by outlets to see if any are GFCI and are tripped.
Why would the two light fixtures and one overhead fan in your bathroom all go dead at once and remain dead even though the breaker has not tripped?
Proably due to a GFCI breaker located in an outlet either in the bathroom or on the same circuit, possibly in another room like the kitchen or other bathroom. You will see the button on the outlet....
Is plugging a vacuum into a power strip bad?
A power strip normally has a built in breaker, so this is not a bad idea. Keep in mind though, you won't want to take the chance of tripping the breaker if you have a computer plugged into the strip. In this case, plugging directly in the wall would be recommended.
Why doesn't your laptop charged even though it's plugged in?
Why doesn't your laptop charge even though it's plugged in
What might cause low voltage at one outlet on a multioutlet circuit?
its an overload on the circuit breaker the 3 outlets are on.. many times groups of outlets are on different circuit breakers.. even though they are in the same room... especially if some are on a gfi outlet
Do both the neutral and hot sides of an outlet need to be come in contact with for the outlet to produce electricity?
The current flows from the outlet to the load along two wires and it is best though of as the current flowing to the load along one wire and back again on the other. If the hot and neutral come into direct contact, the circuit breaker will trip, the fuse will blow or a fire will start. One of those three.
Can a 115 volt icemaker be plugged into a 110 volt receptacle outlet?
There is no problem with that voltage. As long as the voltage is plus or minus 5% of the nominal voltage of 115 volts it is considered to be in the 120 volt range. Even though there is only a 110 volt potential at the outlet it is still rated to a voltage of 120 volts maximum. The second consideration is the amperage of the icemaker. Most 120 volt receptacles are rated at 15 amps and are fed with a #14 wire that is rated at 15 amps. As long as the icemaker does not draw more amperage than the receptacle is rated for the connection will be fine. If the icemaker draws more that 15 amps the breaker will trip.
Valve clearance specs for Wisconsin engine?
inlet 6 though, outlet 8 though
Why circuit breakers do not trip even though there is a fault?
1. Maybe you are using more than you think. Hair dryers really suck a lot of juice. 2. You may have a low-amp breaker with a lot of outlets wired to it. 3. It really depends on how many amps are being pulled vs how many amps the breaker can handle. What you need to do is identify every light and outlet that is wired to that breaker. Next time the breaker trips, leave it off and start figuring this out. Identify every light that is no longer working. Then carry a lamp (better yet, a night-light) around your house and try it in every outlet, identifying the ones that don't work. Before you flip the breaker switch, look at the switch. It should tell you how many amps it can handle before it trips. Overhead light fixture generally suck about 2-3 amps. A celing fan another 2-3 (a combination ceiling fan with light kit, around 5). Add up all the fixtures you identified as being on that circuit, and that's how many amps you are pulling, even when nothing is plugged into an outlet on that circuit. Now, a general rule in electrical wiring is that you're not supposed to have fixtures and outlets on the same circuit. I don't think there's any real danger in doing that, but it just kind of makes it easier to keep everything organized. So it may or may not be true in your house. So you may not have any fixtures at all on the circuit. If you don't, then ignore the lights and ceiling fans. Your load on that circuit is whatever appliances you have plugged in and running at the time. If you DO have fixtures on the circuit, then you can add the amps from those fixtures. Growing up, I lived in a house where the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room were all on the same circuit. That circuit must have been a huge number of amps to support all that. But nevertheless, if you turned on the hair dryer while the clothes dryer and bathroom vent were both on, it tripped the breaker every time. And the lights went out in all three rooms. Solutions? Well, if turning on your hair dryer is what causes the breaker to trip, you can try drying your hair when other things on that circuit are not operating. Or just plug your hair dryer in to an outlet that is not on that breaker. That's the easiest thing to do. You might also think about putting a bigger (more amps) breaker on that circuit in your breaker box (I suggest you don't do this yourself - hire an electrician). Another option is to change some of the outlets and/or fixtures to another circuit, one that doesnt have as much load on it. This will require some re-wiring, which, with a little bit of knowledge, you can do yourself. But if you are not comfortable with that, then again, hire an electrician. Overhead fixtures aren't so bad because the wiring is usually up in your attic. You just need to identify which wires are on which circuits and divert another circuit to include your fixtures. Also, you need to make sure that the old circuit is still continuous (if there was a fixture in between the breaker and an outlet, or between two outlets, and you took that fixture off the circuit, then you have to complete the circuit between the breaker and outlet, or between the two outlets, directly - make sense?). The thing that you have to keep in mind is that, while you are decreasing the load on one circuit, you are increasing the load on the other circuit, and you don't want to put so much on the other circuit that it starts to trip. Oh one warning. Anything that draw a LOT of amps, like a hair dryer or clothes dryer or chop saw, should never be plugged into any outlet that is on the same circuit with electronic devices (TVs, stereos, computers, DVD players). Even if it doesn't trip the breaker (a potential disaster for some electronics), the current change created by turning the high-amp appliance on and off can damage the sensitive components of such electronics. So-called "surge protectors" are not sufficient for protecting your electronic equipment from this - they only protect against minor fluctuations caused by slight changes in the current coming into your house.
Why wont my Cruz reader turn on even though it's plugged into charger?
You can't
Does measuring the the wall outlet voltage give you the full load measurement?
A: measuring the wall outlet will tell the potential in volts available but not the power capability. If a load is applied then that voltage shell tell you the wall outlet capability under load B: mostly correct, the measurement of the outlet under load of an item plugged in will tell you the load drawn by that item, but not the load capacity of the outlet, that is found in you power box by what level fuse is in that circuit and what else is running on that same circuit. most outlets have a 10 amp rating, some have 15 amps some have 20 amps, though most appliances do not draw more than 10 amps anyway.
