Breaker keeps tripping: causes and what to do

The first instinct is to flip it back on and move on. But a breaker that keeps tripping is telling you something, and this guide helps you understand what.

What a breaker does

Hydro-Québec sums it up: the breakers in your panel automatically cut the power when there is an overload or another fault. They protect the wiring from overheating, and so the house from fire. When a breaker trips, it is reacting to something on the circuit, or it is faulty itself: the table below covers both.

The causes, and what they mean

Schneider Electric, a breaker manufacturer, lists four causes of tripping. The breaker itself and its connections can be a fifth:

Poor contact between a breaker and the panel’s bus bar is not a small thing: British Columbia’s safety authority documented a panel fire very likely caused by exactly that kind of poor contact. That is one reason a breaker that feels hot or smells burnt should not be reset: call an electrician.

What to do, step by step

1. Unplug or switch off the appliances on the circuit that tripped.
2. Reset the breaker: push the handle fully to OFF, then back to ON, as the manufacturers instruct.
3. Plug things back in one at a time. If the breaker trips when you plug in a specific appliance, you have probably found the culprit: have it checked or replace it.
4. If it is an arc-fault or GFCI breaker (it has a TEST button), press TEST: it should trip. If it doesn’t, have it checked by an electrician.
5. Stop there. If you still can’t find the cause, it’s time to call an electrician. Schneider Electric says it plainly: when the cause is a plugged-in appliance, an electrician may not always be able to find it, which is why step 3 matters.

When to call right away

We recommend calling an electrician without waiting if:

• The breaker trips as soon as you reset it, even with everything unplugged.
• You smell burning, hear crackling, or the breaker or an outlet feels hot.
• It is always the same circuit, with no appliance to blame.
• It started after some work: an outlet added, a light fixture changed.
• It is the main breaker that trips.

What the law allows in Québec

Resetting a breaker and pressing its TEST button: no rule forbids it, and manufacturers teach homeowners to do it. Everything else is different, and it isn’t a question of skill. Québec’s building authority, the Régie du bâtiment, is clear: a person may not do work on an electrical installation, even in their own home, without the proper licence. Replacing a breaker, an outlet or a light fixture is electrical work.

Under Québec law, breaking the Master Electricians Act and the Building Act can bring a fine of $5,000 to $200,888.

Corporation des maîtres électriciens du Québec (paraphrased from French)

Arc-fault and GFCI breakers

These breakers watch for more than an ordinary breaker does, so they trip for other reasons too. For arc-fault breakers, the manufacturer Siemens lists, among others:

• a shared neutral between two circuits;
• a neutral that is poorly connected, at the breaker or at the appliance;
• a neutral touching ground somewhere on the circuit;
• a real arc, in the wiring or in an appliance.

These are wiring corrections, for an electrician. Since the 2018 code, Québec has required arc-fault protection on almost every 120 V outlet circuit in a home, not just in bedrooms. The code does not require changing existing circuits that are not being worked on. Our guide on arc-fault breakers (in French) explains where it is required.

Replacing a breaker

A breaker can wear out. Schneider Electric puts the life of a breaker at about 30 years, in good conditions and with regular maintenance. When one is replaced, one rule matters more than price: only a breaker approved for that brand and model of panel goes in. Breakers are not interchangeable between brands. In the fire documented in British Columbia, the breaker was from a different brand than the panel.

The panel brand we install most often is Siemens, with its own breakers.

If you are running out of circuits, or if it is the main breaker that trips, the question may be the capacity of your electrical service. Our guide is 100 amp service enough? explains how that is checked.

Frequently asked questions