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dpb dpb is offline
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Default can a circuit breaker that tripped, worked properly, be damagedin the process?

Mark_Galeck wrote:
Hello, I was wiring something and I messed up, as soon as I turned
the heater circuit breaker (to the thing I was wiring) on, there was a
loud bang, smoke and the breaker jumped back to OFF position, that
means, it worked properly, although the part I was wiring, got
damaged. I then disconnected the damaged part.
However, now the circuit breaker appears to "short", that is, even in
the OFF position, some other wires that it controls, are hot!

Can a tripped circuit breaker, get shorted that way in the process, so
that it cannot be turned OFF, and so I should replace the circuit
breaker? Or is something else wrong?


Shouldn't, but as the saying goes "stuff happens".

I'm guessing this maybe was a 240V breaker? The some in "some other
wires" implies one side is shorted, the other not, perhaps, or is that
not a precise description of symptoms.

Replacing certainly sounds in order, check for any signs of collateral
damage from the short at the mounting and neutral bars, etc.

I guess I'll add the obligatory caution -- this wouldn't happen to be an
old FPE (Federal Pacific) breaker/box by any chance?

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