How To Find An Electrical Short In The Home

Should you happen to be experiencing tripped circuit breakers or blown fuses in your house more often than you should, than it is likely that you have an electrical short. A good way to determine if your circuit has become activated is if you hear a loud popping noise. A short circuit develops when you have an erroneous connection within one of the circuits, which happens when an electric path has developed accidentally in the circuit. If you feel that somewhere in your house there is an electrical short, it should be located and repaired at once. If not attended to, an electrical short could cause wire damage because of the insulation melting, circuit damage, or maybe a fire. If you're comfortable working around electricity, you can utilize the subsequent steps to locate and repair the electrical short yourself. If you're not comfortable, then you should call a licensed electrician.

Initial Examination

Checking your appliances is usually the first step when attempting to locate an electrical short. Attempt to discover which appliances were active when your short occurred, and unplug those first. Next, reset the circuit breaker or replace the fuse that's connected to the circuit which has supplied electricity to your appliances. Turn back on the circuit and make sure that the circuit breaker has not tripped or the fuse hasn't blown. In the event the circuit trips and you do not have any appliances plugged in, the chances are you have a short within the wiring or the receptacle. If you don't have any problems, then one of your appliances was probably responsible. Should this be the case, then you need to examine each one of the appliances individually. If you're able to determine the one that was creating the problem, you will want either to correct it or dispose of it.

When You Have a Short In Your Wiring

If checking your appliances doesn't reveal your trouble, then it is likely that you have problems inside your wiring. Step one should always be to turn off the problematic circuit. Be sure to read the voltage by using a volt/ohm meter to make certain that the circuit is switched off before proceeding. Once you verify that the voltage is showing as zero on the meter, you may remove the receptacle, pulling the wires out with pliers and a screwdriver. Adjust your volt/ohm meter so it will now measure ohms. Connect one of the leads to the bare end of the black wire, and the other lead to the bare ends of the white wire. If your reading you get with your meter shows O.L. (infinite ohms), it is a sign the receptacle itself has to be replaced. The short is probably within the wire or circuit breaker when your volt/ohm meter shows continuity. If this is the situation, the main breaker will need to get turned off to further investigate the matter. This is the point where it becomes recommended that you call an electrician to insure that you're going to stay safe. The electrician can tell which fuse or breaker connection is causing the trouble and take out the wires The electrician will be able to repair your shorted wire or defective breaker safely, and be able to test it to make certain that your problem is solved.

Now that you know how to identify an electrical short in your house, you can better protect your home and family from a catastrophic fire caused by an electrical problem.

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