I had origianlly posted on here a week or two ago looking for help with a 20 Amp breaker that was tripping sporadically and for no apparent reason. I thought it was my computer and peripherals but they are now on a different circuit via an extension cord and the original breaker is still tripping.
I totally removed ALL loads from the suspect circuit but the breaker still trips...
Here are some facts...
It does NOT trip immediately when reset. Sometimes it takes over a day to trip.
I checked all receptacles on the circuit and none of them had loose connections or other signs of a loose connection (arcing, burns, etc.)
There is a GFCI Receptacle in one half bath that also has other receptacles downstream of it inside and outside of the house. Tonight I tripped the GFCI by pushing the TEST button and reset the 20 Amp breaker back in the panel. The only other potential loads on this circuit are 2 interior ceiling lights and an exterior ceiling light out on the porch. The breaker lasted about an hour and tripped again.
Question... Does the fact that the GFCI was manually tripped mean there is no problem "downstream" of the GFCI Receptacle? I hope so because some of the receptacles it serves are not in a place where they can easily be rewired.
I also put a new breaker in the panel and it still trips so I have ruled out a faulty breaker.
I also swapped the new breaker to another position in the panel so I have ruled out a bus connection problem.
Has all of my testing isolated my problem down to the circuit's HOME RUN wire OR to one of the three ceiling/porch lights or switches to them?
One other thing that really bothers me is that this circuit is over 5 years old and NEVER had a problem before. Coupled with the sporadic nature of the breaker trips, I am totally puzzled. No new work or loads have been added to this circuit...
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any other suggestions are welcome.
I totally removed ALL loads from the suspect circuit but the breaker still trips...
Here are some facts...
It does NOT trip immediately when reset. Sometimes it takes over a day to trip.
I checked all receptacles on the circuit and none of them had loose connections or other signs of a loose connection (arcing, burns, etc.)
There is a GFCI Receptacle in one half bath that also has other receptacles downstream of it inside and outside of the house. Tonight I tripped the GFCI by pushing the TEST button and reset the 20 Amp breaker back in the panel. The only other potential loads on this circuit are 2 interior ceiling lights and an exterior ceiling light out on the porch. The breaker lasted about an hour and tripped again.
Question... Does the fact that the GFCI was manually tripped mean there is no problem "downstream" of the GFCI Receptacle? I hope so because some of the receptacles it serves are not in a place where they can easily be rewired.
I also put a new breaker in the panel and it still trips so I have ruled out a faulty breaker.
I also swapped the new breaker to another position in the panel so I have ruled out a bus connection problem.
Has all of my testing isolated my problem down to the circuit's HOME RUN wire OR to one of the three ceiling/porch lights or switches to them?
One other thing that really bothers me is that this circuit is over 5 years old and NEVER had a problem before. Coupled with the sporadic nature of the breaker trips, I am totally puzzled. No new work or loads have been added to this circuit...
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any other suggestions are welcome.