Why your breaker keeps tripping

Stop and look before you reset

If a breaker tripped and you smell burning, see scorch marks, or find the breaker or panel hot to the touch, do not reset it. Leave it off and call an electrician. If there is smoke, get out and call 911.

If there is no smell, heat or noise, you can reset it once. Push the handle all the way to off first, then to on. Many breakers sit in a middle position after tripping, and pushing straight to on does nothing. If it holds, note what was running when it tripped. If it trips again right away, the problem is not the load. Leave it off.

Standing at a panel is safe if you only touch the handles. Do not take the cover off the panel. That is electrician work.

The four reasons a breaker trips

A breaker is a switch that opens when the current is too high or the wiring is faulty. There are four main causes. Knowing which one fits helps you describe the problem.

Overload. Too many devices on one circuit. A typical bedroom or living room circuit is 15 amps. A kitchen or garage circuit is often 20 amps. Space heaters, hair dryers, window air conditioners and microwaves each use a large share. The breaker trips after a few seconds or minutes of heavy use. This is the most common and least dangerous cause.

Short circuit. A hot wire touches a neutral wire. The current jumps, and the breaker trips at once, often with a pop. A short can come from a damaged cord, a loose wire in a box or a rodent chew. It does not clear on its own.

Ground fault. A hot wire touches a ground wire or a metal box, or current leaks through water. A ground-fault breaker or outlet trips on a very small leak. Wet outdoor outlets and bathroom fans are common spots.

A bad breaker. Old or heat-damaged breakers can trip early or not at all. A loose wire at the breaker can heat it up and trip it. A breaker that does not trip when it should is the opposite problem, and it is worse. A federal review of Federal Pacific (FPE) Stab-Lok breakers, closed in 1983 without a recall, found that some failed lab calibration tests. For Zinsco panels, trade sources describe breakers and bus bars that overheat or fuse together. If your panel carries either name, a breaker that never trips is not proof that the circuit is fine. See the Zinsco and Federal Pacific page and the panel upgrade page.

Safe checks you can do

These checks only need your hands and a flashlight:

1. Unplug everything on the circuit. Find what is on it by looking at which rooms lost power.
2. Reset the breaker once. If it holds with nothing plugged in, plug devices back in one at a time.
3. If one device trips it, that device or its cord is the likely cause. Try it on another circuit. If it trips there too, replace or repair the device.
4. If it trips with nothing plugged in, the fault is in the wiring, a hard-wired fixture or the breaker. Stop here.
5. Check for a GFCI outlet or breaker that has tripped. A GFCI on the same circuit can also cut power downstream.

The guide to reading your panel shows how to find the right breaker and what the numbers mean.

When to call an electrician

Call if any of these is true:

• The breaker trips with nothing plugged in
• It trips again within minutes of a reset
• It trips more than a few times a month for no clear reason
• You see black marks, a burnt smell, or a buzzing or crackling sound
• The breaker is hot to the touch
• Lights dim when large appliances start

A circuit that is overloaded because you have more devices than before may only need a new circuit. A dedicated circuit for a space heater, freezer or window air conditioner is a common fix. Fixr lists $100 to $150 for a 20-amp outlet, and no neutral guide prices a full dedicated run from the panel, so get a written quote.

What the electrician will do

The electrician measures the load on the circuit and tests the wiring for shorts and ground faults. They check the connection at the breaker and look at the panel for heat damage. If the breaker is bad, it is replaced with the correct type for that panel. If a wire is damaged, they find the splice or run a new section. They explain the finding before replacing parts.

Cost depends on how hard the fault is to find. A typical SoCal flat-rate repair runs $185 to $575, and Fixr’s national guide lists a service call at $176 to $327 as of its January 2025 update. See electrician service call costs for what that range covers. Hidden shorts in old walls take longer.

GFCI and AFCI breakers trip for a reason

If your breaker has a test button, it is a GFCI or an AFCI. These trip on conditions that a standard breaker would miss. A GFCI trips on a small leak to ground. An AFCI trips on an arc, such as a pinched wire behind a wall or a loose connection. Do not replace one with a standard breaker to stop the tripping. The GFCI and AFCI page explains what each protects and why code requires them.

The 2023 National Electrical Code, which California’s 2025 Electrical Code is built on, widened GFCI protection. It now covers all 125 to 250 volt receptacles in kitchens, all basements, garages and outdoor receptacles, and listed appliances such as dishwashers, dryers, ranges, wall ovens, microwaves and sump pumps (rated 150 volts to ground or less and 60 amps or less). AFCI protection for the main living areas of a home has been in the code since before 2020. The result is that more circuits in newer or remodeled homes have a GFCI or AFCI device, and more homeowners meet a breaker that trips.

Before you blame the breaker, think about what the device sees. A damp outdoor box, a worn appliance cord or an old appliance with a little leakage can trip a GFCI, especially when a new GFCI breaker is added to an older circuit. A pinched cable, a loose wire nut or a damaged cord can trip an AFCI, and some trips follow a device plugged in downstream. Moving one device to another circuit and watching which one trips usually points to the cause. If it trips with nothing plugged in, the fault is in the wiring. Tell the electrician exactly when it trips, because that detail finds the fault faster.

If the breaker is hot or the smell is stronger near an outlet, read hot or burning-smell outlets. For after-hours cases, see the emergency electrician page.