What is a circuit breaker and how to identify its problems?

If you are building a house or you are a house owner, you should need to know the importance of a circuit breaker. If you are curious about the circuit breaker’s functionality or need to realize how it works, then these lines might be useful for you.

A circuit breaker is an electrical device that protects your house from electrical short-circuiting or over-burdened electricity cut off. The function of a circuit breaker is simple and easy to understand. It helps to interrupt the power supply in case of any electrical supply issue.

Circuit breakers are available in different sizes, shapes, and colors. There are a lot of companies that are designing circuit breakers for small appliances to high voltage supply houses.

The main feature of any sized circuit breaker is to interrupt the power supply. It doesn’t matter whether it is due to voltage fluctuation, power overflow, or due to another reason circuit breakers are designed to protect the appliances, houses, and power generator plants.

How does a circuit breaker work?

All circuit breakers work efficiently and cut off the power supply when an issue occurs. Circuit breakers are installed on the main power supply line of houses. It controls the power load and supply from the grid into the houses, offices, factories, and power plants.

Ordinarily, it works on the warming impact of electric flow. Circuit breakers for high voltages are generally organized with a defensive hand-off pilot switch to detect a flaw condition and shut down the power supply.

When an electric supply flaw is detected, the circuit breaker contacts must open to interrupt the power supply. Inside a circuit breaker, there is a spring or wire that turns it off. Home circuit breakers not only protect your homes from short-circuiting, but these are helpful to protect your appliances.

When a breaker trips or interrupts the power supply, it immediately cut off the power supply, and you are unable to turn on lights, appliances, machines, or any other things until you sort out the problem.

Sometimes due to low or high voltages, a circuit breaker cuts off the supply. You will need to reset the breaker for uninterpreted supply. If you found the breaker immediately shut off again upon resting it, then there should be a serious problem that needs to figure out.

Maybe the circuit breaker you are using is faulty, or there is an issue with the electric wiring.

How to identify a problematic circuit breaker?

First of all, you will need to figure out that is your circuit breaker working properly or not? It is important because if it is faulty, you need to change it.

You will need to run a physical test of the circuit breaker before changing it. Unplug or switch off all the electrical appliances connected with the wiring of that circuit breaker. Try to flip the circuit breaker back to the ON position, and if it doesn’t remain in the ON position, the breaker is faulty and should need to replace.

If it remains in the ON position, then you will need a voltage meter to check the breaker’s functionality. Turn the voltage meter on and set it according to the voltage setting. Connect the red power wire of the voltage meter to the feed wire (live wire) of the breaker and connect the black wire to the grounded wire.

Check the voltage reading on the voltage meter. If there is no voltage reading, your breaker is faulty and needs to be replaced. If the voltage meter shows the reading as 120 or 220 volts, it means the breaker is OK, but you will need to check the wiring.