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Breaker Trips Easily, No New Appliances Added to Circuit

DH166

Oct 9, 2021
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Oct 9, 2021
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I have two breakers in a three year old kitchen that have recently begun tripping easily. They reset and will sometimes hold for a while, though seldom for more than a couple minutes. One is for the disposal and the other for the outlets on the kitchen island and along the work surface. The latter is gfci. I don't know if the disposal is likewise. The odd thing is that it's a young house and I also haven't added any appliances that would be putting additional load on the circuit. First time I've dealt with this. How do I go about troubleshooting it?
 

Bluejets

Oct 5, 2014
6,901
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Oct 5, 2014
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6,901
Circuit breaker trip as in "overload" or as in "earth leakage".
 

DH166

Oct 9, 2021
4
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Oct 9, 2021
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I wouldn't unsafely attempt electrical work. Hence, the questions to learn.
 

Tha fios agaibh

Aug 11, 2014
2,252
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Aug 11, 2014
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Unplug anything on those outlets to eliminate the possibly of bad appliances. If it still trips, there is most likely moisture in the junctions somewhere.
The gfci is sensing current leakage to ground.

An electrician will isolate the problem with a megger resistance test to verify insulation integrity.

Breakers themselves do go bad but rarely.
 
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