A Circuit Breaker is a protection device and it will trip automatically when there is any fault in the load side. We all have at list one circuit breaker at our home and in an industry, you will find the different types of circuit breakers with a different name. Some circuit breaker has a specific place where it will use. In this article, we will learn why we need a circuit breaker, how it works, why it trip and how to reset? But at first…
Where I Can Find Circuit Breakers?
All Breakers are found in your home’s breaker box. Generally, breaker boxes can be found in the garage, utility, basement, and hall. Just look around and let us know where it is in the comment.
Why We Need Circuit Breaker?
Home electrical appliances and electronics need electricity to power up. But some time-poor wiring can cause an overflow of current and wire to become so hot then it started to melt and causes a spark. In this case, a circuit breaker helps to disconnect the load and prevent further damage. All circuit breaker has specific ampere rating. That’s means you have to calculate the total amount of current before you install a circuit breaker.
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How does a Circuit Breaker work?
In general, each circuit breaker is designed to ‘trip,’ or shut itself off at predetermined amperage loads. For example, you have a pump which takes 5 amperes of current. But you install a breaker which maximum current rating is 4 ampere. That means your breaker will trip automatically when you switch on the pump. Same like for electrical short circuit. When it happens a large amount of current flow through the circuit breaker and when it crosses the maximum limit of current then breaker will trip automatically.
Common Reasons Circuit Breakers Trip:
Normally an overloaded circuit can causes breaker to trip. For example, your home is 10 years old. When you built your home that time you calculate that you need maximum 8 amperes of current when all home appliance is operational. For this reason, you install a 10-ampere circuit breaker. But today you bought a new Electric Vehicle (EV) and you want to charge it at home. Let’s consider your EV will take 4 amperes of current when it’s charging. Now your total amount of current is 12 ampere which is 2 amperes higher than your present breaker. So your breaker will each time when you charge your EV. There is some other reason like a short circuit, line to line fault, line to ground fault.
How to Reset A Circuit Breaker?
Suddenly if you lose power to an outlet or area of your home means a breaker may have been tripped. Now you have found out which breaker has tripped. But first, you have to reach the breaker box. Once you reach to your breaker box, resetting the breaker is easy. You just need to open the door to the breaker box and look for the toggles. Most breakers should be pointing toward the panel center, indicating the ON position. Toggles pointing away from the panel center are OFF. Toggles in an in-between position are the one(s) which have tripped. Now you must turn OFF the breaker before turning it ON again. Without this operation, the breaker will not reset. Here one thing is important. The breaker was tripped means, there was some reason. Make sure you solve the problem before you turn it ON.
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Now if you have any questions about circuit breaker regular operation and the problem then let us know in the comment. We will try our best to answer you. Thanks!
