KEEP SAFETY FIRST

Working with electricity is not hazardous as long as you obey strict safety rules. Always shut off or disconnect power before handling wires. If you are working on the electrical servive entrance, do not stand on a damp floor. Protect yourself by wearing safety goggles, rubber gloves, and stand on a rubber mat or a piece of dry wood. Above all, if you are in any doubt about how to do any particular job, call in a licensed electrician. if your entire house is without power, call your utility or local electrical contractor. You may have a problem with the service panel or wiring leading to it. Outages of this magnitude are beyond the level of expertise of the do-it-yourselfer.

SHORT CIRCUIT AND OVERLOADED CIRCUITS

If a circuitbreaker trips, you have either a short circuit or an overloaded circuit. To find the cause, disconnect all lamps and appliances and switch off all lights (or remove the light bulbs) on the affected circuit and then re-energize that circuit. If a circuit breaker trips with all the appliances disconnected, you have a short circuit and the house wiring itself must be repaired or replaced. If the circuit is good, reconnect each lamp and appliances, one at a time. Extreme caution is required. Examine each lamp carefully and never plug in frayed or bare cords or damaged plugs.
The circuit breaker should trip when you plug in the faulty lamp or appliance. Check for a broken light socket or other problems and have repairs made before using the lamp or appliance again.

Overloaded Circuits
If one particular circuit is repeatedly interrupted, ther may be too many appliances or lamps on that circuit. Itmay be necessary to add an additional circuit for appliances with heavier current drain.

REPLACING/ADDING CIRCUIT BREAKERS

Replacing a damaged circuit breaker or adding a new circuit breaker to a breaker box is not difficult. There are two basic breaker unit types: snap-in and bolt down.
When ever you purchase breakers, whether for a new installation or as a replacement, first identify the manufacturer of the service panel and the ampacity of the circuit. This information is required to get the right type of breaker for your panel. It's very important to remember that circuit breakers manufactured by various companies are not generally interchangeable, so make sure you purchase the right replacement. Do not replace with a higher ampere-rated breaker

CIRCUIT BREAKERS

Circuit breakers might be called a renewable resource because to reactivate a tripped breaker you flip a toggle switch or push a button instead of replacing a fuse,which youprobably don't have handy when one goes bad. Replacing a malfunctioning circiut breaker-or installing a new one- in almost as easy as replacing a fuse in a regular fuse box.
A circuit breaker snaps open there is a power overload or a short on the circuit. Until the problem is corrected, the circuit breaker will continue to click open.

REACTIVATING BREAKERS:
A tripped circuit breaker may have four different configurations, depending on a brand of circuit breaker installed in your house.
* Center Position Trip: The toggle of the breaker will be in the center of the breaker. To reset, move the toggle to the full OFF position. Wait several seconds. Then snap rhe toggle to the full ON position.
*Center Position Flag: The toggle of the breaker will be in the center of the breaker and a red-colored flag will appear alongside of the toggle indicating a tripped position. To reset the breaker flip the toggle to the full OFF position,wait a couple of seconds,and then flip the toggle to the full ON position. You may hear a couple snaps as the toggle goes through the sequence. make sure that the toggle is over to the ON position even through the toggle may sound as if it has been reactivated.
*Full Off Position: The toggle will be on the full OFF position-not halfway as detailed above. Simply flip the toggle to the full ON position.
*Off Position Outward: The button is protuding, showing the word, OFF. Push the button in and release it to reset the circuit.