Circuit breakers tripping. Low Load conditions

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BMWTurboDzl

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Just wanted to throw this out into the community.

This morning two breakers tripped (Upstairs room, Kitchen). Both tripped when a light switch was thrown on. Other than your typical parasitic loads nothing else was running at the time in the house except for my laptop.

Q: What could cause two breakers to trip when the load in the house is very low?

House is 20 yrs old.
 
Ground fault? Did they reset? Are all the receptacles clear? Anything else plugged in you don't see? Storm go by lately, lighting strike?
 
Arc fault or ground fault breakers? They go bad more often than normal ones and can be sensitive sometimes.
 
Originally Posted by oldhp
Ground fault? Did they reset? Are all the receptacles clear? Anything else plugged in you don't see? Storm go by lately, lighting strike?


Arc Fault (Breakers located in the breaker box)

Yes I reset and they have not tripped again.

Not sure what you mean?

No.

No.

Originally Posted by jayjr1105
Arc fault or ground fault breakers? They go bad more often than normal ones and can be sensitive sometimes.


I'm guessing they're called Arc Fault.
 
Odd two would trip considering the light switch would only be on one of those circuit breakers. But as was already posted, if those breakers are arc or ground fault it's usually just time to replace them. At least that's a good way to see if that's the problem and not something else. Is the tripping continuing to happen after resetting and using the light switch again?

You could also just try another breaker you already have and see if it still happens. That's if you're comfortable moving wires around in the breaker box. I actually just the other month had to replace an arc fault bedroom breaker due to it tripping a lot anytime the closet fluorescent light was turned on. New breaker doesn't trip. They do wear out.
 
The arc faults are saying there is a problem somewhere. Check your switch and fixture wiring first, and any connections on that circuit. That's the purpose of them and they are the last thing to check not the first.
 
Originally Posted by Sonic
Odd two would trip considering the light switch would only be on one of those circuit breakers. But as was already posted, if those breakers are arc or ground fault it's usually just time to replace them. At least that's a good way to see if that's the problem and not something else. Is the tripping continuing to happen after resetting and using the light switch again?

You could also just try another breaker you already have and see if it still happens. That's if you're comfortable moving wires around in the breaker box. I actually just the other month had to replace an arc fault bedroom breaker due to it tripping a lot anytime the closet fluorescent light was turned on. New breaker doesn't trip. They do wear out.


Has not happened again. I was not aware that they could wear out. I'll keep that in mind and probably start replacing them as you suggested.
 
Originally Posted by tomcat27
I'm thinking it might be wise to replace the switch. are you hearing arcing in the switch when you use it?


Great point. I heard arcing at the light (bedroom) fixture. I don't know about the kitchen. I was just told that the lights were out.
 
"Are all receptacles clear?" Long ago my darling kids had smushed playdo into a receptacle under their bed. It kept blowing the fuse on that circuit............that was the last place I looked.
 
Originally Posted by oldhp
"Are all receptacles clear?" Long ago my darling kids had smushed playdo into a receptacle under their bed. It kept blowing the fuse on that circuit............that was the last place I looked.



Ahh..yes. I suppose my kiddos could've placed some of their whiskers in a receptacle but due to their lack of an opposable thumb I'm going to err and say that they haven't.
 
Remove all the load then see what happens when you turn on the switch. I had a twistie bulb pop circuit breakers
 
Might want to see if there are switches or receptacles in that circuit that use the stab in connectors. Some types use a spring loaded connection that can fail and end up arcing. I replaced 2 that failed in my house and then thought better and went thru them all.
 
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
[
Has not happened again. I was not aware that they could wear out. I'll keep that in mind and probably start replacing them as you suggested.


Some GCFI's and Arc Fault Detector CB's have been know to be sensitive to Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) and Electromagnetic Interference (EMI).
 
We bought our current house 6 years ago. We had two breakers that would randomly trip on low loads. One of them started buzzing. I changed all the breakers in the panel and haven't tripped a breaker since. They do wear out.

Don
 
I would also check all the connections. I've seen loose wires on the breaker cause a trip, same with the wires in the light switch/outlets.
 
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by tomcat27
I'm thinking it might be wise to replace the switch. are you hearing arcing in the switch when you use it?


Great point. I heard arcing at the light (bedroom) fixture. I don't know about the kitchen. I was just told that the lights were out.


I would blame a cheap light fixture or light bulbs before I would blame a breaker. Even expensive light fixtures use cheap electrical parts.
 
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