Changing a 15 amp breaker...safely ??

[studio1087]

I believe that a 15 amp breaker is bad in my fuse box. It trips and trips and trips. The circuit is for the upstairs master bedroom. I can't imagine anything that would cause and arc or the second floor. The home is just old enough that we do not have reset switches on he plugs in the bathrooms.

It just trips and trips.

I have a home warranty policy. For a $50 deductible I can have someone come out and change the breaker/investigate the problem.

Several friends have told me to throw the main power switch to off and pop the breaker out by prying the inner edge. We have two rows of switches in a pattern like this

_ _
_ _
_ _
_ _
_ _

etc.....the switches switch left to right. The bad breaker is on the right side as you view my goofy diagram. I have shut off the main power and pried first on the inner edge and then on the outer edge. I cannot move the breaker no matter what I do.

A hardware store is 10 minutes from my home. If I could pop out the breaker I could take it to the hardware store and get another.

What am I doing wrong?

Should I just pay $50 and play it safe?

Thanks very much.

John

[scooteraz]

This is easy to do, but if you have never done it yourself, you probably want someone to at least be there who has to talk you through it. Like working on your own tube amp, there are inherent risks and dangers to being in an open panel. And, if you do not have tools to verify what is hot and what is not, a bit more dangerous.

Options:
1) Spend the $50 and don't worry about it.
2) Spend the $50 and then slip the guy who comes out another 20 to teach you how to do the work. The advantage of having the professional is that they will also be able to measure the circuit current and tell you whether the draw is high or you have a bad breaker (sometimes, they open for a reason).
3) Get your friend to walk you through it.
4) Get a book at Lowes or Home Depot. Don't like this one much if you have no background.

Once someone shows you how to do the job, it is something you will know in the future, and will be able to do yourself. Not hard or super dangerous, but...you can hurt or kill yourself if you don't know what you are doing.

BTW, your local panel board looks like almost every other out there. Only difference is length. Also, you need to know brand and model number of the breaker, as they are not interchangeable, and all go in slightly different. Around here, contractors seem to really like the SquareD panel boards, but other places like different things.

[jhegel]

Breakers do have failure rates of about 5% last time I checked.

That being said you need to check out the circuit to see if there is a reason that the breaker is tripping. There could be an overload, short circuit or a number of things causing this to happen, other than a faulty breaker.

If you are not able to check it out yourself, I would have someone, do it just for the peace of mind.

[scooteraz]

Originally Posted by jhegel

Breakers do have failure rates of about 5% last time I checked.

That being said you need to check out the circuit to see if there is a reason that the breaker is tripping. There could be an overload, short circuit or a number of things causing this to happen, other than a faulty breaker.

If you are not able to check it out yourself, I would have someone, do it just for the peace of mind.

Don't know if you mean initial failure rate or over time. I have been in my house here in AZ for about 18 years, and have had 4 out of 20 breakers go bad over time. Usually (3 of the 4) they will be overloaded once, then I think the ambient conditions get to them. However, one just got weak over the years, and would trip on 10 A with a rating of 15. If the house, or board, are brand new, I would also be looking for the overloading condition.

[Bogo]

Spend the $50. Have them put a current probe on the line to measure the current. Think back if anything has changed to add an extra load even if only transient. Laser printers and other equipment can pull some decent current for a short period. Also, unless you know 100% do not assume the breaker only feeds the 2nd floor.
Taking a breaker panel cover off to service and disconnecting it from earth ground can be risky with unknown wiring practices on old houses.
Unless you know what you are doing do not try to save a few bucks at the expense of your personal safety or home.

[telex]

Call a professional electrician.

Circuit breakers are only guarenteed by the manufacturer for ONE TRIP. Really. Nobody ever junks a breaker after one trip, but they probably should.
If your curcuit keeps tripping, it is overloading somewhere, and you are waiting for a house fire.

Again, call a pro!

[jhegel]

Originally Posted by scooteraz

Don't know if you mean initial failure rate or over time. I have been in my house here in AZ for about 18 years, and have had 4 out of 20 breakers go bad over time. Usually (3 of the 4) they will be overloaded once, then I think the ambient conditions get to them. However, one just got weak over the years, and would trip on 10 A with a rating of 15. If the house, or board, are brand new, I would also be looking for the overloading condition.

Sorry for not being clear, it was an initial failure rate. This was a while ago and the manufacturer I was dealing with gave me thier figures of a 5% failure rate off the shelf.

This failure rate would be breakers that would not hold, and breakers that would not trip.

[beachkos]

It's been my experience that circuit breakers trip for a reason - excluding the occasional rare factory defective breaker, when the breaker trips it's trying to tell you something. Spring for the 50 bucks, have it it checked out professionally, and enjoy the peace of mind of having the problem fixed. This could be a life-safety issue, ( short circuit, overloaded circuit, faulty wiring, etc.) and 50 bucks is a small price to pay to ensure the safety of your home and your loved ones.

[studio1087]

Thanks guys....I'm calling a pro. I'm starting to doubt that it's "just the breaker".

Thanks very much.

John

[Glen W]

Could be a bad bkr. But most likely a fault on that circuit. If you know what you're doing, the first thing to try is to shut the breaker off, lift the wire, and turn the breaker back on. If it trips with no wire landed, it's a defective bkr. If you don't know what you're doing, then don't even take the cover off of the panel - call a qualified professional electrician. Either way, hope you get it worked out.

[cband7]

Good deal - call the pro. Think in terms of YOUR safety in changing it and the safety of everyone else in the house if there is a problem somewhere in the wiring. BTW, the "reset buttons" on the bathroom plugs are ground fault interrupters. If the circuit detects ANY voltage on the ground (earth) side of the circuit it will pop the power off. This can save you if someone accidently drops a hair dryer in the sink full of water and tries to pull it out.