A breaker that keeps tripping is doing its job. That's the part people miss. It is a safety device, and it is telling you something is drawing more current than the wire behind it can carry safely. The question is which of three things is going on, because they look identical from the basement.
1. The circuit is overloaded
Most common by far, and the least alarming. You've got too much plugged into one circuit. This is almost always a space heater, because a space heater pulls about 12.5 amps on its own and a 15-amp circuit does not have much left over after that.
The tell: it trips when you turn a specific thing on, and it only trips then. Microwave plus toaster. Heater plus hair dryer. Shop vac on the same garage circuit as the freezer.
What to do: move something to a different circuit. Not a different outlet in the same room, which is usually the same circuit. A different room, ideally on the other side of the house. If you need the load where it is, the fix is a dedicated circuit, and that's a real but small job.
2. Something is shorted
A hot wire touching a neutral or a ground. This trips instantly and hard, usually the moment you flip the breaker back on, and sometimes with a pop you can hear.
The tell: it won't stay on at all, even with nothing plugged in.
What to do: unplug everything on that circuit and try once more. If it holds, one of the things you unplugged is the problem, and you can find it by plugging them back in one at a time. If it still trips with nothing plugged in, the short is in the wiring itself. Leave it off and call somebody. That one is not a DIY afternoon.
3. The breaker itself is worn out
Breakers are mechanical and they do age, especially ones that have tripped a lot over the years. A tired breaker starts tripping at less than its rating.
The tell: it trips under loads it used to handle fine, and the trips have gotten more frequent over months.
What to do: it's a cheap part. But do not just swap a 15-amp for a 20-amp to make the tripping stop. The breaker is sized to the wire, not to your inconvenience. Putting a bigger breaker on 14-gauge wire means the wire can now get hot enough to start a fire without anything tripping. We see this in houses here more than we'd like to.
When to stop and call
Call if any of these are true:
- You smell anything hot, sharp or plastic-ish near the panel or an outlet
- The panel or a breaker is warm to the touch
- There are scorch marks or discoloration anywhere
- It trips with nothing plugged in
- It's a Federal Pacific or Zinsco panel, in which case a breaker that won't trip is the bigger worry
Otherwise, figuring out which of the three you've got takes about ten minutes and is worth doing before you pay anybody to come out. If it turns out to be the wiring, we're at (406) 313-6180.