Circuit breakers are tripping randomly for no reason

[MRubenzahl]

This is very odd. As I posted yesterday, I had an AFCI circuit breaker go bad a week or so ago. Then, yesterday, I noticed that three breakers, all next to each other on the panel, (not AFCI) were tripped. No apparent reason. Strange. I flipped them back on, all ok.

Then today, I suddenly had no water anywhere in the house. I checked the breaker panel and the breakers for the well pump had tripped. Again, no apparent reason.

It's a 12-year-old house, nothing new I can think of other than my poking around in the panel several times in the past few days. I can't think of anything I am doing that can cause breakers to trip, and they didn't trip while I was there.

Any theories?

 

[user 4883]

some possibilities are breakers going bad or well pump going bad or something causing the well pump to over amp.

 

[Skeezix]

You have a ghost in the house...

 

[MRubenzahl]

Update. No more incidents. What was weird was that all three of the top floor breakers tripped, then a day later, the well pump circuit. A few days after I had an AFCI breaker go out. Weird...

 

[Eddie_T]

I hope never have to upgrade my system. Electricity isn't out to get me and I am comfortable working with it. It seems the protective devices that fail are the cause tor many homeowners to attempt electrical work. My wiring just seems to do its job w/o problems with the exception being a master breaker that failed. It prolly should have been recalled but it lasted 25 years.

 

[zannej]

I wonder if there is a short somewhere or if something happened to cause it-- like a brownout or power surge you didn't notice. I'm on a well system too so I feel your pain on the water going out bc the breaker tripped. In my case its more often something went wrong with the pump.