Reset a Tripped Circuit Breaker in Minutes: A Step-by-Step Guide

What would we do without circuit breakers? For one thing, our homes would be a lot less safe. Circuit breakers are switches that disconnect electrical circuits by interrupting the current running through them. This can either happen automatically when the current exceeds a pre-set rating or manually, like when you need to turn off the breaker to do some electrical work.

If you own your own home, you’ve probably reset a “tripped” breaker at one point or another. I’m a licensed electrician, and when I was in the field, I certainly saw my fair share. Others, like recent graduates moving out on their own or your kid’s sitter, may not have seen a breaker before, tripped or otherwise. This guide’s handy whether you’re looking at a circuit breaker for the first time or an electrical veteran looking for a better way to explain what to do if the breaker trips.

Why Do Breakers Trip?

Circuit breakers trip when there’s too much current (aka “overcurrent“) on the circuit, and it always seems to happen at the worst time: when we’re getting ready in the morning or cooking dinner with no time to spare. Here are three reasons circuit breakers trip.

• Overloads. Overloads happen when too many things running at the same time. Let’s say you have a 20-amp circuit in your garage. It’s winter, so you plug in and turn on a 12-amp space heater, then fire up your 15-amp miter saw. Your breaker trips because that’s 27 amps on a 20-amp breaker (how quickly it trips depends on the “inverse time” characteristics of the breaker). Overloads are solved by unplugging appliances and electrical devices and moving them to different circuits.
• Short circuits. Short circuits happen when the current takes a shortcut back to your electrical panel instead of going to the appliance, lamp, power tool or device (called “loads”). This happens when a hot wire touches the neutral or another hot wire, due to worn insulation, poor connections or other problems. Because there’s no resistance from the load, the current spikes extremely high, and the circuit breaker opens the circuit almost instantaneously.
• Ground faults. Ground faults are a type of short circuit, but they happen when a hot wire touches a part of the circuit that’s not supposed to be energized, like a metal appliance housing. Ground faults are extremely dangerous because electricity always wants to return to its source (the transformer outside, by way of your electrical panel). To get there, it could go through you and the ground you’re standing on. To prevent this, electricians install a deliberate fault path back to the panel, called an equipment grounding conductor.

How To Reset a Tripped Circuit Breaker

Resetting the occasional tripped breaker is no big deal, and ahead, I’ll walk you through it. But, if your breaker trips frequently, or you smell burning, see sparks or are just not sure why the breaker keeps tripping, call a licensed electrician for help. Overloads are much easier to solve than short circuits and ground faults, which may be buried in an unknown electrical box or even inside a wall. If redistributing the loads doesn’t help, you likely have a problem with your wiring.

Find the tripped breaker

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Go to your electrical panel and open the front cover only. If you’re (very) lucky, the breakers will be nicely labeled, but in my experience, that’s almost never the case. Even if electrical panels start out nice and neat, it’s likely somewhere along the way that other homeowners or electricians have moved things around but not bothered to update the labels.

So, look for a breaker that’s not in the same position as the other ones. Breakers have three switch positions: On, Off and Tripped. Most of your breakers will be On. Tripped will be the middle position. You can also use some deductive reasoning: a light or receptacle circuit that trips will be a 15-amp or 20-amp single-pole breaker, meaning it has a single hot wire and takes up one spot in your panel. Larger appliances like your air conditioner, electric stove or dryer will be double-pole breakers, which are bigger and less common.

Tandem breakers split a single-pole breaker slot into two 15—or 20-amp breakers, with two switches each controlling a separate circuit. They free up space in overcrowded electrical panels, but their use is limited, and they’re less common than typical breakers.

Reset the breaker

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Find the tripped breaker? To reset it, first flip it to Off. If you try to move it to the On position first, it will just flop back into tripped mode. Turning it Off resets the mechanism that holds the breaker in the On position. Once it’s Off, flip it to On and see if it holds. (I always stand to one side of the panel and turn my face away as I reset a breaker in case of an unlikely arc flash explosion.)

If the breaker trips immediately, you need to investigate. Try unplugging some things on the same circuit, then reset the breaker again. If the breaker holds, you likely had an overload. Move the things you unplugged to a new circuit. If the breaker keeps tripping or you notice it trips after you plug in a certain appliance, it’s likely a wiring issue. Call an electrician and unplug the appliance that’s causing the problem until it can be serviced.

Reset your appliance clocks if needed, and you’re good to go.

FAQ

Can a circuit breaker reset itself?

No, circuit breakers in your home electrical panel cannot reset themselves. They must be manually reset.

Why won’t my circuit breaker reset?

A circuit breaker that will not reset could indicate a short circuit or ground fault due to loose or damaged wiring or an overload on the circuit. Or the breaker itself could be malfunctioning. If it’s an overloaded circuit, redistribute the loads and try again. Call an electrician if you suspect other problems unless you have experience with electrical work.

How long can you leave a circuit breaker off?

If a breaker trips, it’s best to solve the problem ASAP to minimize disruption. Breakers that aren’t in use are safe to leave off until needed.