Main Breaker Keeps Flipping HELP!!

jronnn said:

I have a 100 amp main breaker and im using a max 60% of that and my breaker keeps flipping. today it flipped 2 hours after flower lights turned on. then i reset it and turned off my minisplit in veg and it flipped AGAIN 3 hours after that!!!

i took the temp of the ouside of the breaker and the top half of the main breaker is around 135 degrees and the bottom half is like 110 degrees. is this normal? the house was built in the 70's so i assume the breaker was too. could the breaker just be faulty?

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visajoe1 said:

could be an old breaker. how sure are you that you're only using 60%?

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mjinc said:

Anything new added into the system? Could it be something is shorting and causing the breaker to trip?

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GBAUTO said:

To be sure you're going to need an inductive ammeter. Try to make sure that the load is as evenly distributed in your panel so that you're not overloading one of the legs of the 240. If that seems to be ok and you can't source an ammeter then throw a new main breaker at it.

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sonson176 said:

It varies with location, but for a brief period in the 70's quite a few homes were wired with aluminum wire. If the terminations aren't checked and tightened they often become loose rather quickly, as aluminum has a rather high expansion rate. This can lead to breakers tripping if you're lucky, but most often sets the surrounding area on fire in short order. The first place to check would be inside the panel. Shut the main off and make sure all the lugs are tight. Sometimes they get loose even with copper conductors. If the breaker is hot that means the wire is even hotter. Worth taking a look. What brand of panel do you have?

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rkymtnman said:

are you calculating your load as resistive or inductive?

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GBAUTO said:

To be sure you're going to need an inductive ammeter. Try to make sure that the load is as evenly distributed in your panel so that you're not overloading one of the legs of the 240. If that seems to be ok and you can't source an ammeter then throw a new main breaker at it.

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sonson176 said:

At this point I'd really suggest getting a legitimate electrician in there to check things out. If you want to check the lugs in the panel shut the main breaker off. The line side(from the meter to the panel) will still be energized though. 1000v insulated tools will give you some extra peace of mind. I can't logically recommend that somebody without a solid electrical background go much further than that, although many do. BE AWARE that the line side(from the panel out to the the meter/transformer) isn't protected by any kind of fast acting breaker. The transformer will have fuses but they take quite a while to burn, even with a bolted fault. That pretty much means if you get hung up on it, it aint turnin off until the wire melts/explodes. Slip up in the energized line side of the panel with a screwdriver and you'll likely have an a ball of fire hotter than the surface of the sun in your face. Same goes for pulling old meters out; I've seen the bakelite insulation come apart on quite a few old cruddy ones and cause it to arc out. Not trying to be all negative nancy here, but electricity isnt very forgiving. Id hate to hear somebody got hurt or burned down their set up trying to learn this stuff on the interwebs. Good luck hope its something silly like a loose wire somewhere, it usually is. If you want to know anything else feel free to ask.

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visajoe1 said:

@jronnn I think you nailed in post 9 above, it probably does have something to do with when you clipped the wires by accident.

I also concur with @sonson176, at this point, you really need a certified electrician in there. Hot wires/breakers and flipping at 60/70% loads sounds like recipe for bad news

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jronnn said:

Thanks for the response, i actually just switched some breakers around so the load is more even, i guess ill see tonight if it fixes the problem and trust me man id never touch anything before the main breaker lol. i would certainly get an electrician over to check anything wi im just ok with wiring breakers and stuff because i know im pretty much safe as long as the main is shut off and i have some went to a vocational highschool where i learned this stuff, its just been a long time so my memory is foggy

i realized about 50 of those 60 amps were all on one side of the panel (didnt even realize i put the sub panel and light controller on the same arm) which would also explain why half the breaker was getting so hot. since moving the breakers my main breaker is now running at 100 degrees (top half) and 95 degrees(bottom half) compared to 105 and 135 last night, huge difference so i really hope i solved the issue

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jronnn said:

Thanks for the response, i actually just switched some breakers around so the load is more even, i guess ill see tonight if it fixes the problem and trust me man id never touch anything before the main breaker lol. i would certainly get an electrician over to check anything wi im just ok with wiring breakers and stuff because i know im pretty much safe as long as the main is shut off and i have some went to a vocational highschool where i learned this stuff, its just been a long time so my memory is foggy

i realized about 50 of those 60 amps were all on one side of the panel (didnt even realize i put the sub panel and light controller on the same arm) which would also explain why half the breaker was getting so hot. since moving the breakers my main breaker is now running at 100 degrees (top half) and 95 degrees(bottom half) compared to 105 and 135 last night, huge difference so i really hope i solved the issue

Click to expand...