Maintaining Circuit Breakers And Fuses

Always use extreme caution when you are working on or around your home electrical system. If you have any doubts about completing any of the following steps, leave your electrical system alone and promptly telephone a trained professional.

While you are most likely not an electrician, it is still important for you know how to care for your circuit breakers or fuses in the event you should lose power to your home or throw a switch or blow a fuse.

The first step is locating your circuit breakers or fuses. They will be in a metal box - sometimes in your basement and sometimes located outside. The box is typically grey, but colors can vary.

All of the circuit breakers should be labeled on the door so you can easily reset the switch or replace the fuse if there is an issue. If this is not done on your panel door you will need the assistance of one other person who can tell you what areas of your house lose power when you remove a fuse or turn a switch off, unless you are willing to run back and forth as you turn switches and/or remove fuses.

You will need to know how to reset your circuit breakers or remove fuses in the event one is thrown or a fuse is blown. In most incidences the switches are clearly marked on or off. Prior to resetting or replacing circuit breakers or fuses you should turn off everything that was drawing power when you lost power. Failing to do so will cause the exact same thing to happen again.

Sometimes a circuit breaker can appear to be on when it is actually off. That is why labeling your switches is so important. If you have an issue in a specific area of your house and your switches are labeled you can easily flip the exact switch and restore power.

If you have tried all of the above and still have no power, you may need to turn on and off the main power switch and then reset each individual circuit breaker. If this fails to solve your issue, it is time to call a professional.

Brought to you by Circuit Breakers from Moeller Electric