Circuit Breaker Maintenance Tips

It can be very frustrating having the lights go out when you are doing an important task or hosting an event in your house. Fortunately, professional electricians shares a few things you can do to prevent this and one of them is proper circuit breaker maintenance. A Brief Overview Electricity is distributed throughout your home. If you are living in an older house, then you most likely have a fuse box. In case your home was built after the 1960s, you will most likely find a circuit breaker. If you have a newer electrical system, the service panel is most likely a circuit breaker. Its purpose is to deliver electricity throughout your home through its branch circuits. It also prevents each circuit from drawing excessive power, which could lead to overheating and higher risk of fire. When it comes to its maintenance, there is not much you need to do aside from resetting the breaker every time it trips or replacing any blown fuse. In case it needs to be repaired or upgraded, you have to call a professional electrician. Search for indications of rust and moisture and if you see any, be sure to hire an electrician Florence right away. It is also recommended to reset the circuit breakers annually to prevent corrosion. Fuse Replacement At the primary service panel, remove the fuse or trip the circuit breaker that regulates the circuit that you are working on. You also need to make sure that the outlet or switch you want to work on is not live by using a voltage tester. You also have to switch off the power to the whole house, trip the breaker inside the circuit breaker panel. In case you have a fuse box, turn off the lever switch. Consider plugging a radio into the electrical outlet that you would like to work on. Switch it on and crack up the volume so that you can hear it clearly from the service panel. Turn off the breakers or unscrew the fuses up until the radio switches off. It is also important to replace the fuse with the exact same amperage rating. Don’t ever use a higher rating because it could overheat the wires and lead to fire. You also have to stand on a dry surface. Safety First Even if your home’s electrical system was up to code during its installation, you should still check new code requirements. You should consider upgrading your system to ensure electrical safety at home. Before you chance or add to the electrical system or start anything, you have to call your building inspector or electrician for updated code information as well as any required permit.  Large appliances as well as heavy power tools typically need more power during start up than what they need when they’re already up and running. Although circuit breakers could take on these temporary surges, standard fuses cannot withstand them. Also, installing a higher amp fuse won’t do you any good. You should consider replacing the standard fuse with what they call a time delay fuse with the same amperage. They are made to handle power surges without the risk of blowing.

Call Florence Electrician Pros if you have issues with your circuit breaker or any other electrical-related problems.

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