If the lighting or equipment suddenly shuts off in one area of your home, check the breaker box first. You have tricked your breaker if you see one breaker pointing in a different direction. Now, what? Your circuit breakers are safety devices that avoid overheating and potentially causing fires in the electrical system in your home. Whenever a circuit breaker is used, it's essential to investigate the cause–mainly if it occurs on the same circuit more than once.

You need to understand why the breaker has flipped to prevent it from happening again. The breaker may be damaged and needs to be replaced in some cases. However, the breaker still works in most cases, when it trips. Circuit breakers are designed to flip over and fuses are designed to blow and shut off when hazardous situations arise. Call your electrician in OKC in this situation, rather than just keep turning it back on.

Overloaded Circuit

The most common reason for a breaker trip is an overloaded circuit. It happens when a circuit tries to draw a larger electrical charge than is meant to be carried. If the internal mechanism in the circuit breaker is heated up by current flow the breakers "trip", usually through an inside spring loaded element when too many appliances or light fixtures are operating simultaneously. This breaks the breaker's continuous path and inactivates the circuit. The circuit will remain dead until the breaker lever is reset to the ON position and the internal spring mechanism is also rearmed.