I occasionally experience
partial outages in my home. What could be the cause?
- A circuit has overloaded and a circuit
breaker tripped at the panel. Locate the breaker for the room in which
the outage occurred. If the breaker has tripped, the control handle
will either be set to "OFF" or at a midpoint close to "ON." Modern
breakers will also show a red bar (red will appear in a small glass
square on the breaker itself) if the circuit has been tripped. Reset
the handle by flipping it to the "OFF" position, then to the "ON"
position. If the breaker trips again immediately after being reset,
contact an electrician to diagnose the problem.
- A fuse has become overloaded and has
blown. Simply replacing the fuse can be dangerous if you do not know
which fuse to use. A fuse that has too many amperes for its socket
could overload and cause a fire. If you are unsure about the ratings
of your fuses, contact an electrician to have them labeled. You might
also consider converting to "S-type" sockets. These prevent the
installation of fuses with improper ampere ratings.
If you experience frequent outages caused
by a circuit breaker or fuse overload, consider hiring an electrical
contractor to upgrade your system to deliver the proper current to your
electrical items.
Lisa Hamilton, Architectural Studies
Student Assistant, University of Missouri Extension
