Circuit breaker keeps tripping

[Hopeful2]

Our house is almost a year and a half old and we began to experience an electrical problem about 10 days ago. The circuit breaker for the bedroom keeps tripping. We had an electrician out less than a week ago and he installed a new breaker. This worked for a few days ...but now the circuit breaker has just tripped again. (Nothing, other than one light, was on at the time.)

Has anyone had a similar problem? Any thoughts would be appreciated. (The electrician is scheduled to come back tomorrow.) Thanks!

[Bogie Shooter]

I would trust what the electricion has to say..........................

[memason]

For what it's worth, I had a CFL light bulb that caused my breaker to trip. Once I removed the bulb, no more problems. This was on a circuit that had a 15amp breaker with the little test button on it.

[KayakerNC]

Our house is almost a year and a half old and we began to experience an electrical problem about 10 days ago. The circuit breaker for the bedroom keeps tripping. We had an electrician out less than a week ago and he installed a new breaker. This worked for a few days ...but now the circuit breaker has just tripped again. (Nothing, other than one light, was on at the time.)

Has anyone had a similar problem? Any thoughts would be appreciated. (The electrician is scheduled to come back tomorrow.) Thanks!

I would look VERY closely at that light. Bulbs, connector, etc.

[MikeV]

Light bulb probably defective. I would remove the lamp from the circuit and see what happens.

[villagetinker]

The bedrooms are equipped with Arc Fault detecting circuit breakers, these are different from GFCI circuit breakers, and tend to be more sensitive. They are designed to detect an arcing fault in extension or lamp cords etc.
So try unplugging everything in the bedroom, then plug in one item at a time and see when the breaker trips. Try moving the wires or shaking the device. If there is a loose connection, it will probably cause the breaker to trip.
Then, replace the item, or have a professional repair it.
You MIGHT be able to pick up electrical noise using an AM radio tuned to an area with no radio signal, walk around and if you hear a noise it should get louder as you get closer.
Please remember, the primary function of these breakers is the trip for a defective cord or appliance that is arcing, and could be a fire hazard. Do not ignore this situation or replace the breaker with a regular breaker, or we might be reading about you in the paper......

[Grandfinch]

The bedrooms are equipped with Arc Fault detecting circuit breakers, these are different from GFCI circuit breakers, and tend to be more sensitive. They are designed to detect an arcing fault in extension or lamp cords etc.
So try unplugging everything in the bedroom, then plug in one item at a time and see when the breaker trips. Try moving the wires or shaking the device. If there is a loose connection, it will probably cause the breaker to trip.
Then, replace the item, or have a professional repair it.
You MIGHT be able to pick up electrical noise using an AM radio tuned to an area with no radio signal, walk around and if you hear a noise it should get louder as you get closer.
Please remember, the primary function of these breakers is the trip for a defective cord or appliance that is arcing, and could be a fire hazard. Do not ignore this situation or replace the breaker with a regular breaker, or we might be reading about you in the paper......

Bingo. And you win $$$$$ for the correct answer.
One addition, about five years ago, a load of bad arc fault breakers made there way to the villages. If you have one of those, replacement will solve the problem. Replace with an arc fault, DONT CHEAT AND USE A REGULAR BREAKER.

[JC and John]

Our breaker problem was a faulty 3 way regular light bulb. Replaced light bulb and no problems. This was on a 15 amp breaker for our living room. Took an electrician quite a while to find...but bingo! When we first moved into or house my 15 year old Kenmore vac would trip the 15 amp breakers in the house and the GFI on our lanai. Took the vac for service but it checked out just fine. Read here on TOTV that plugging the vac into a surge protector and then plugging the protector into the outlet solved the problem. That was great but found that info out AFTER I bought a $450 Dyson. Now I have two vacs. Still use the old vac for the tile and hardwood floors and the Dyson for the rugs. BTW, the Dyson does not need the surge protector only the older vac.

[Hopeful2]

I very much appreciate all the responses! Thank you!

[CassieInVa]

We bought a home here three months ago and within the first week, we had the same problem in the bedroom. I never could figure out exactly what I was doing to cause it as we were not overloading it at all.

Our home was built in 2009 . I wonder if we have one of those faulty breakers?

It hasn't happened recently, so maybe it was a bulb or something else? At least now I'm aware of the problem and the possible solutions.

[Meddick]

The arc fault detector circuit breakers are required by NEC code. If your house was built under the version of the code requiring that type of breaker (or later) you must replace with the arc fault breaker. If you use the 'regular' type and something happens to your house as a result of that breaker, your insurer may decline to cover you.

Don

[Hopeful2]

Help please -

The electrician, who was supposed to come back the next day, never showed... We contacted him 3 times ...

Can someone recommend a competent, reliable electrician?

Thanks!

[villagetinker]

Lenhart, very good and reliable, they have several advertisements in the daily Sun.

[dirtbanker]

If you use the 'regular' type and something happens to your house as a result of that breaker, your insurer may decline to cover you.

Really? Are you 100% sure of that statement?

[Meddick]

Really? Are you 100% sure of that statement?

I am never 100% sure of anything.

[rjm1cc]

The above explanations are similar to what happened to me. I would look ARC's up on the internet and see if their are any suggestions you can do yourself. The basic problem is electricity is going from the electrical wire to a ground. This could be caused by the insulation being defective and the wire touching a metal stud. Other than that it could be the resistance in an electrical heater when it comes on. It could actually be the switch that turns on the heater and does not happen all the time.A motor starting could cause it.
I would try disconnecting everything on the circuit that you can an see what happens. If everything works then start reconnecting/turning on what you disconnected.

[dbussone]

Help please -

The electrician, who was supposed to come back the next day, never showed... We contacted him 3 times ...

Can someone recommend a competent, reliable electrician?

Thanks!

PIKE'S electric.

[SKIMAN]

had same trouble when we moved here 3 years ago. cause certain brand of 3way lite blubs. sounds stupid had home war. send out electrician said as weird as it sounds they had more trouble with the breakers an a certain 3way blub .changed fixed go figure

[villagetinker]

Personally I had an experience back up north, when during an electrical inspection, the inspector noticed the brand of circuit breakers in the house. He informed me that he knew insurance companies were cancelling coverage when they found out about these particular breakers (Zinco/Sylvania), as they had a nasty habit of not tripping. The entire electrical panel was replaced the next week.
So IMHO, I would never replace an ARC fault breaker with a regular breaker. One other item, it may actually be illegal to do that as you would be violating the building code.

[dirtbanker]

He informed me that he knew insurance companies were cancelling coverage when they found out about these particular breakers .... it may actually be illegal to do that as you would be violating the building code.

Canceling coverage is not to be confused with declining to pay a claim on policy for an electrical fire that has occurred...

I wonder how the insurance company would know if you had the defective brand of breakers, maybe it was a question on the disclosure sheet (or maybe the guy just lied to sell a new breaker panel)?

I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for building code violations, I wonder how many years the average sentence is, and if those are served in a maximum security prison?

[villagetinker]

Canceling coverage is not to be confused with declining to pay a claim on policy for an electrical fire that has occurred...

I wonder how the insurance company would know if you had the defective brand of breakers, maybe it was a question on the disclosure sheet (or maybe the guy just lied to sell a new breaker panel)?

I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for building code violations, I wonder how many years the average sentence is, and if those are served in a maximum security prison?

I agree, cancelling is different from not paying a claim, but it might give the insurance company a reason to not pay.
The person that pointed out the bad breakers was the county electrical inspector. I did not push the point, as I was able to verify with UL that these breakers had been delisted due to problems. I do not know if a report would have been filed as a result of the observation of the electrical inspector, it was my choice to have the entire panel replaced. (Note there were no replacement breakers for this particular style of breaker.)
And while I agree it is rare that a homeowner gets prosecuted for building code violation, building owners (apartments, etc.) get caught all the time, so it may be possible.

The bottom line here is hire the electrician to find out why the ARC fault breaker is tripping, do not replace with another type of breaker, and do not ignore the problem.