Hi All,

I have a bathroom socket that periodically trips the breaker when a portable heater is used. One of my outside covered sockets is on the same line and occasionally tripped the breaker when we had the pool pump plugged in. Sometimes all I needed to do was press the reset button on the bathroom socket and sometimes it required resetting the breaker. My question is why could this be happening? Could it be the circuit is overloaded and if so, what can I use to test it with?

Thanks!

Robert

The heater may be pulling too much power while other things in your home are running, such as other lights, a stove, microwave, etc. When using anything with a high wattage (especially with those things that provide a source of heat) minimize your use of resources. Just to be on the safe side, check your breaker box and make sure nothing is burnt out or needs to be replaced. You might also want to try running the heater in another room in the house, and as usual keep a clear area (at least 3ft) around it, free from any flammables, and don't run it unattended. =)

OK sorry but words are getting in the way, does socket mean lamp socket that you screw a light bulb into, or a plug into?

Are the reset buttons on a duplex receptacle, being a GFI?

The GFI s tripping due to a ground fault, the breaker may be tripping due to an overload, or a ground fault.

If the heater trips the breaker, sounds like an overload. What is the wattage of the unit, and what else is on the circuit running at the same time as the heat?

To troubleshoot some of this you would need a current clamp on probe, or called an AmpProbe, which is a brand name.

Hope this helps.

I initially thought it was a fuse problem and replaced it. To replace it I had to remove the metal panel on the breaker box. At the time I didn't notice or smell anything that indicated something was burned out. Sorry, I meant the plug-in electrical outlet. It is a dual receptacle with a test and reset button that I'm guessing is GFI. The AmpProbe I can get and test with. Will it indicate if it may be a ground fault problem. If not, how do I check for that? The house is 10 yrs old if that makes any difference. This problem didn't start until this summer when we purchased one of those inflatable pools and needed to run the filter periodically. The outside electrical outlet the filter was plugged into is on the same line as the outlets in both bathrooms.

Thanks!

No, the AmpProbe will not indicate a ground fault, only measure the current flow in amperes.

So it may be an overload from the pool pump on the bathroom circuit, or the pool pump may have gotten wet and is causing a ground fault.

Really need to determine what is tripping, fuse, breaker , or GFI.

Yes, most likely the receptacle with the Test and Reset buttons is a GFI receptacle.

Thanks for the ideas. I'm planning to check them all out this weekend.