George E. Cawthon wrote:
Joseph Meehan wrote:
George E. Cawthon wrote:

Joseph Meehan wrote:

..

Testing the breaker takes a special tool and that runs $100 +.


If the tool to test the breaker costs $100, forget
the tool and buy a new breaker, or several.
Actually, testing the breaker is as simple as
placing it in another operating circuit and
putting the breaker it replaces in the "bad"
circuit. Costs nothing. But of course a person
that knows nothing about electrical circuits and
is unwilling to buy a book and learn may fry
him/herself. Fortunately, anyone smart enough to
be able to own a house, or smart enough to operate
a car and change tires, can learn the basics quickly.


Would like likely be a good enough test for the case in point,
but it does not test if a "arc fault breaker" is providing the
protection it is designed to provide. That is why the tester is a
little higher than might be needed to see if the breaker is the
cause of the lack of power on a given circuit.



Whoa! The breaker broke the connection twice, he
reset and it broke the connection again. His
problem is that it now won't reset.

I agree it is providing protection, but the tester I am talking about,
as I understand it, test more than just a simple overload. However from the
description I can't tell if the breaker is now tripping early or if there is
some sort of load or wiring error causing the problem.


The breaker is providing protection since it
allows no current. The question to be answered
is: 1, is there a fault (short) in the circuit or
2, is there a fault in the breaker. This isn't
complicated and there is no safety problem since
the breaker is either providing no current or
won't allow enough current. The simplest
solution as someone pointed out is to remove all
load from the circuits and try to reset the
breaker, and if that doesn't work, then remove
the breaker from the panel and try reset. If it
doesn't reset the breaker is bad and one buys a
new one. If it does work and putting it back into
the circuit (no load) makes it break, then the
breaker is working and the circuit has a fault in it.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit