Why is My GFCI Breaker Keeps Tripping? (With Solution)

It is often to deal with the situation of a tripped circuit breaker. Yes, after tripping may cause many problems but tripping indicates that there is something wrong with electricity flow. The GFCI breaker is used to monitor the flow of electricity throughout the circuit and if there is any increase in the amount of electricity then the GFCI breaker keeps tripping. This article will guide you through the reason why the GFCI breaker keeps tripping.

Key takeaways:

The reason behind by the GFCI breaker keeps tripping are:

Ground fault.
Moisture in the receptacle box.
Overloading.
Electrical fault.
Faulty GFCI outlet.

To get into detail about the reasons, why it happens, and how you can avoid it you need to study the below-mentioned information.

Why is My GFCI Breaker Keeps Tripping?

The GFCI breaker gets trips and reduces the risk of fire or getting shocked and getting trips indicates that there is a problem. There may be some possibility that you need an electrician.

The following are some common causes of GFCI breaker keeps tripping:

Ground fault occurrence:

The reason behind occurring a ground fault is when a hot wire may come in contact with a ground wire or any appliances which are in a grounded area and if this happens the GFCI breaker is able to detect the current that is flowing from the wrong path such as water or person. The function of the GFCI breaker is to detect the current even if the slightest leakage of current is as low as 0.005 amps the breaker will trip.

Moisture in receptacle box:

The other reason the GFCI breaker keeps tripping is due to the accumulation of moisture. The outdoor outlet having moisture in the receptacle box is common due to rain. It depends on the climate of locations as high humidity can cause moisture buildup and it becomes tough for a receptacle box to evaporate.

To avoid this you should inspect the receptacle box but make sure to turn off the breaker before opening the box and dry the box to reset the GFCI by using the blow dryer. The outlets which are located in the wet location such as the bathroom or kitchen so for that use the outlets that are weatherproof and lock the receptacle when you are using it to avoid any risk of getting an electric shock.

Overloaded circuit:

The situation of overloading occurs when the amount of amperage flow in an electric wire is more which the circuit is not able to handle. The main reason for getting overloaded is due to connecting any defective appliances. The function of the GFCI breaker here for overloading is to trip the circuit or break the circuit.

The following are some ways to determine the overloading:

In case of overloading, you need to unplug all the appliances that are connected to the circuit.
The next step is to reset the circuit of the fuse box and wait for some time.
After this again plug in the appliances in the circuit and turn them on.
Make sure to check if again it doesn’t trip.

In case the problem doesn’t fix you need to replace the items which are causing the problem. There may be a possibility to have a new dedicated circuit and outlet which will be able to handle the amperage required by the appliances.

Electrical fault:

The reason for the GFCI breaker keeps tripping must be that there is an electric fault that happens because of the faculty structural wiring. The other reason for electric faults can be because of connecting an outlet to the same circuit mainly when it is not part of the original wiring.

For solving the problem of electric faults you need a professional electrician to fix the problem in the outlet.

Faulty GFCI outlet:

After checking all the reasons, the reason behind the GFCI breaker keeps tripping means that there is a problem with the outlet itself. The GFCI outlets will detect any problem in internal circuitry which will in no time wear out. In this case to have repair or replace the outlet by a professional electrician.

Solutions for GFCI breaker keeps tripping:

You can solve and fix the problem if the breaker keeps tripping unless the problem is big and in that case call the electrical. The following are some ways to fix the problem:

In case of an overloaded circuit first, you need to find in which area of the house the breaker is tripped and unplug all the appliances which are connected to the circuit such as the microwave, computer, water heater, etc.
After doing this turn on the breaker and check it works but if it trips again it means that there is a short in the circuit, not an overload.
The reason for having a short and ground fault in the circuit is due to touching the hot wire with any appliances or electrical devices. For this you need to note the last appliances you plug in the circuit to check for an overload and unplug those appliances due to which the breaker trips and make to check the appliances by servicing them.
In case the breaker trips even if nothing is plugged in or turned on then there may be some wire causing the problem which can be because of the loose connection at the receptacle etc.
If you are able to know which device or appliances are causing the problem you need to replace the device or you can correct the loose wire if you are having experience in this field or you need to call a professional electrician as soon as possible.

Conclusion:

After reading the above article you can easily get to know why your GFCI breaker keeps tripping and what are the possible things you can do to solve the problem and when there is the need to hire a professional electrician.

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Rick Costa

Hi, My Name is Rick Costa and I welcome you to my Blog, HousElectric.
Talking about the Website, I was Very Fond of Electronics from a very small age and my love for it grew as time passed. I then Opted for Electronics as a subject in the College along with Research on my own.
I then decided to share my Gathered Knowledge with you guys, So that it can help you too for Making Decisions and Solving Problems.