Safety & diagnosis — not a substitute for inspection

Breaker Trip Diagnosis Tool

Answer a few questions about how and when your breaker trips to narrow down the likely cause.

1. What's happening

When does it trip?

What type of breaker is it?

Any smell, warmth, or sound?

2. Likely Cause

Pattern-based read

Likely cause:

Select your symptoms to see a likely cause.

This is a pattern-based read, not a diagnosis. Repeated tripping, warmth, smell, or a breaker that won't reset are all reasons to call a licensed electrician rather than keep testing.

The four main causes

Overload: too many devices drawing power on one circuit at once — trips under load, resets fine after.
Short circuit: a hot wire touching a neutral or ground — trips immediately and repeatedly.
Ground fault: current leaking to ground, often through a damaged cord or appliance — a GFCI catching this is doing its job.
Arc fault: a loose connection or damaged wire arcing — what AFCI breakers are specifically designed to catch.