I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction in
troubleshooting this electrical problem. We had an electrician rough in
the electrical for a family room addition and kitchen remodel. The
kitchen lighting consists of six four-inch recessed lights with a max
bulb of 50W on a 15 Amp breaker along with two pendant lights and
undercabinet lighting. The cans are on one single pole switch which I
installed and has been working fine for several weeks. The pendants and
undercabinet lights are yet to be installed. The other night my wife
went to flip the switch and she said it made a popping noise, sparked
and tripped the circuit breaker. When I got home I reset the breaker
and flipped the switch- no sparks but the CB did immediately trip
again. Thinking it might be a bad CB I shut off the 50 Amp breaker in
the main box that supplies the subpanel for the addition and replaced
the 15 amp breaker. I flipped the light switch and again the breaker
tripped. I've tested the switch with a continuity tester and it checks
out OK, even though I put another switch on just to be sure and still
the same thing. I've climbed up into the attic and checked the
connections in the three lights that are accessible and everything
looks good. Unfortunately the other three lights are not accessbile
without cutting into the sheetrock from below. All the romex that I can
see looks fine, no breaks in the insulation. I'm at a loss for what to
check next. The electrician that did the rough in is very busy and
won't be available for at least a couple of weeks. Any suggestions are
appreciated.