So we had some impressive storms here a few night ago and the power went
out. That's normal, it does that every time there's a storm. Also,
each time this happens, there's a power surge right before the power
goes out (the issue seems to be a transformer (?) at the end of the
street--the gray cylinders on the poles). Usually this fries a VCR, etc.
This time a breaker int the main box has flipped and won't stay 'unflipped'.
Now...before I just Google "how to replace a breaker" and do that, I
thought prudence dictated I ask someone smarter than me (that's you
guys :-) ).
This is a 15-amp breaker, I think (it's the smallest kind in the box),
and the only thing it's powering are three overhead light fixtures and a
wall-socket. There's nothing plugged into the socket, and all the
fixtures are off. One of the fixtures is a remote-controlled fan/light
combo, but I've got the wall switch that controls that fixture in the
off position.
So...my (completely uninformed and only one 'Theory of Electrical
Engineering' class, many years ago) deduction is that the breaker itself
must be bad, since there's nothing on the other side of it drawing
current that could have shorted and now be open, which will cause a fire
when I swap the breaker...unless maybe a wire in the wall broke, or
something.
So...do you guys have any thoughts before I have at this? Am I missing
things here? I'm about to kill myself and burn down my house? I should
be testing with a multimeter or something?
Thanks.
Scott
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