Resetting circuit breakers

Your circuit breakers and fuses have just one job, preventing circuit overload, short circuits, and possibly start a fire. Things that may cause this would be plugging to many things into outlets that are on the same circuit like a portable heater with the TV on and all the lamps in your living room on. That would overload the circuit and cause the breaker to trip.  If you have a breaker that keeps shutting off there may be too many things on that circuit or there is another problem and the services of a licensed electrician may be required. But before you call an electrician try these steps.

Locate your main circuit panel. Try to identify the breaker in half or fully off position. Sometimes the breaker will be tripped but the handle stayed on the on position. So it may be necessary to reset all of the breakers. When resetting the breaker, you need to fully push the handle to the off opposite until you hear a “click”. Once in the off position, set the switch back to the “on” position. If it returns to the “on” position without tripping again, the circuit breaker has been reset.  But if when returning to the on position, you find that the breaker buzzes or trips off again there may be a short circuit or overload on that circuit that require a licensed electrical contractor to repair. If you have any additional questions, give Voltek Electric a call at 262-224-3226, or you can reach us through our online contact form.