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Electrical problem....tripped breaker constantly...


GoBengals

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so on a single breaker, there is:

 

Upstairs hallway

master bedroom

master bath

master walk in

 

thats it.

 

the Hallway has 2 outlets.. nothing plugged in... and 4 can lights.. none factor it seems

 

master has a few outlets, only things plugged in is cell phone chargers, macbook charger(85w) and directv receiver and tv.. 

 

bathroom has nothing plugged in.

 

walk in has 2x 2 bulb ceiling lights

 

if the bathroom light is on and i turn on the walk in light.. breaker trips.... every time  not alway instaly though.. sometimes 5 10 seconds later

 

sometimes just the bathroom lgiht will trip it.. but most times not.. nothing in the master bed seems to be a factor...

 

removed the bulbs from the walk in to get new ones.. one was burnt out etc... 

 

cant quite figure whats up.. all sockets have CFL bulbs so its not overlaoded no mattter what..

 

thoughts? things to try?

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Is there a GFI on this circuit? You said the bathroom is on the branch. If so those things go bad all the time. Usually on an outlet in the bathroom or gfi in the breaker box.

 

there are two GFI outlets in the bathroom.. this was my original thought actually.. aside from replacing the outlets.. what trouble shooting can be done? 

 

with nothing plugged into those two outlets, just the light on, which consists of 4x 6watt cfl bulbs.. turning on the closet lights trips the breaker.. 

 

any way to narrow things down further? i ran into GFi outlet issues in the basement, figured them out, but i can see where they can be an issue..

 

i am just at a loss of trouble shooting options without just blindly replacing stuff and see how things go...

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Difficult to wade into the waters of a long distance electrical trouble shooting issue. However, here it goes.

Question

1. You've lived there for a while but this is the first time experiencing problems with this breaker tripping ?

2. GFI outlets or GFI outlet switch ? Which one do you have or do you have both ?

3. Have you done any wiring rework on that circuit ?

4. Is it always the same thing that trips the breaker ?

5. Do you know how exactly this circuit is wired ?

6. I'm guessing but I would assume your new home warranty is over. However, some of the builders MAY maintain circuit configuration diagrams and MAY actually give you advice on the issue. Have you been in contact with them ?

7. Easter egging is a pain in the ass but if that's all that's left to do, start replacing. Replace one at a time. Don't just go though and replace all at once. In other words you may just need one knowing good switch and one outlet. Unless you have those multiple outlets with switch etc... Have you been replacing anything yet ?
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Difficult to wade into the waters of a long distance electrical trouble shooting issue. However, here it goes.

Question

1. You've lived there for a while but this is the first time experiencing problems with this breaker tripping ? This breaker, yes, Kitchen fridge trips sometimes.

2. GFI outlets or GFI outlet switch ? Which one do you have or do you have both ? Outlets, x2 in master bath.

3. Have you done any wiring rework on that circuit ? Nope.

4. Is it always the same thing that trips the breaker ? Doesnt seem like it, you can make it trip every time wit the closet light+bathroom light, but it has tripped with both off as well.

5. Do you know how exactly this circuit is wired ? not a clue, logical would be from box to master corner, then to hallway and rest of master, to bath, to closet. but no one knows.

6. I'm guessing but I would assume your new home warranty is over. However, some of the builders MAY maintain circuit configuration diagrams and MAY actually give you advice on the issue. Have you been in contact with them ? These assclowns are no help ever, and my sister works for them.

7. Easter egging is a pain in the ass but if that's all that's left to do, start replacing. Replace one at a time. Don't just go though and replace all at once. In other words you may just need one knowing good switch and one outlet. Unless you have those multiple outlets with switch etc... Have you been replacing anything yet ? I picked up two new GFI outlets last night, going to replace those. I plan on replacing 3 outlets with ones with USB ports, and plan on adding 2 more outlets, however neither of those things are going to happen until summer i assume. So first attempt is changing the GFI outlets today.

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wifes car battery died two days ago, kids broke a picture frame glass yesterday, woke up to a flat tire today, forgot to pay my matress credit card until the last day, almost triggered a bunch of interest i couldnt afford, on top of the wife bitching about the breaker tripping all the time... been a craptastic week...

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Well fuck. It does seem that if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all... Sorry to hear it sucks right now but that is the life of a Bengals fan. We are a tough bunch.

I'll digest the information above. I'll even discuss this with family members who are professional at this stuff. I'm just smart enough to be dangerous. I had a similar problem a while back. It turned out to be the breaker itself in the main box. However, before that let me digest and I'll be right back to you.
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I asked and was told to make sure that you only have Upstairs hallway, master bedroom, master bath, and master walk in on this breaker. Most likely a small breaker and usually doesn't take much more to trip. Look at the amp rating of the breaker and tell me what it is. ?
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GFI's are on different circuit.... shocked myself..

 

 

 

so its not the GFI's..

 

it tripped tonight.. so i finally put the CFL bulbs in the closet, unable to find any issues since.. unable to force it to trip.....  

 

really really hope it was the bad lights...

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I bought a no-warm-up LED bulb for the living room, and although it broke the bank ($30), I am very pleased with its performance (brightness, color).

 

The price is worth it, particularly since they will last for decades, unlike CFL's whose life estimates are based on them never being turned off.  We've begun transitioning our bulbs to LED as the CFL's burn out.  And we'll take them with us when we move... 

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Was it the bad lights ? I'd personally be SHOCKED to learn that. Since you added everything up and it's less than the breaker, can we be somewhat sure there is nothing else on the circuit ? Let's just say that you are correct. You're drawing less. Let me know how the light situation pans out.
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One more question...

When you took out the CFL's, did you put any bulbs back in their place and if so what brand/type ?

 

took out regular bulbs, 4 total, one in each fixture was blown and looked burned almost.. replaced all 4 bulbs with 60watt equiv. CFL's..

 

these GE energy smart CFL's are great compared to others i have bought, they are full bright immediately it seems instead of that warming up period...

 

i would love to switch to LED, but my house has something like 16 can lights per floor, and a total of 25-30 regular bulbs.. so i would be spending roughly $1000-1200 on bulbs...

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Great. If all works out and it is the bulbs, it will be a first for me. Usually the light acts sorta like a breaker when it blows. However, a quick surge theoretically could blow both the bulbs and the breaker. Kinda makes sense but I've never seen or heard of this problem before. Thanks for sharing.
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  • 2 weeks later...

seems to have slowed but not gone away completely...

 

tripped when wife was leaving room and turnong OFF stuff...

 

one other time just randomly.. so twice in 2 weeks basically.. cant seem to force it to happen...

 

not sure what to even try...

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  • 1 month later...

this is still happening.. cant really figure it out... not very often.. once a month or every 6 weeks.. it seemed to have slowed when my wife stopped using her electric blanket... but it happened again..

 

and since i got a ps4, if i turn both sets of lights on and the ps4, it trips..

 

i dont fucking get it...

 

 

so the family room would have a ps4, stereo receiver, tv, 4 can lights and a ceiling fan light....

 

that shouldnt trip the breaker...

 

the receiver is the biggest things at 525w, tv is 25w, lights a total of 65w, (CFl bulbs) and ps4 150w  thats maybe 8amps on a 15 amp circuit...

 

what...the...fuck 

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