david542

I have 200A main panel for the house. There is 20a breaker that keeps tripping and have no Idea what is causing and what is hooked up on the breaker. Would appreciate someone telling me what is causing and where do I start looking.

Thanks

Daniel

nealtw

You have to find what is not working in the house. Sump pump, kitchen plugs, electric heat.

david542

I have gas heat and so far I can't find yet what is not working.

JoeD

A damaged buried line to a light post? remote building? sump pump? septic pump? stuck attic fan? neighbour using your outdoor receptacle and tripping it?

david542

I have 2 outlets inside the utility room and 2 on the outside. What I don't understand I have not use these outlets and all of a sudden the breaker trips.

kok328

Could be an abandoned circuit where the hot & neutral were intentionally connect together to trip the breaker.

david542

If this is the case then why would it trip all of a sudden when I haven't used the outlets yet? So I guess I take the panel off and check the wires.

JoeD

You first need to identify what is on this circuit. A buried line could be damaged by water or rocks that have pierced the cable over time. Water could have gotten into a receptacle and cause it to burn up.

Here i s one I had last year.

Attachment 3660

nealtw

As kok328 said; an unused wire should be nutted together in a box somewhere so the breaker can not be turned on. You may have an unused wire that was not terminated properly and is now touching ground or nuetral. If you cannot find it, off would be a safe way to leave it.

david542

Since I am not using the outlets I am just leaving the breaker off till I get time to look into the problem.