Help!!!!

[justme]

I Know nothing about home repairs. I can paint a few walls, spackle but nothing else. I learned how to bleed the furnace last winter only because it was freezing out and didn't want to wait for my hubby to come home after work and do it. It was spooky in there!

Seriously. We have a circuit breaker that runs to our well house/pump. We have been living in this house from new for a good 6 years now. The circuit breaker is tripping. There is nothing on in the house running nor does the well house have anything on including the pump when this happens. Today it has tripped several times, not running any water mind you, nice and quiet in the house and pop, it is now tripping and won't stay on.

My husband tells me it is just a bad breaker, they go bad sometimes and just need to be replaced. We have fuses out in the well house that the pump operates through then of course our breaker in the home. We do turn that breaker on and off a lot when we have power outages or when away so our pump doesn't turn on and run if we would have a leak or something to that fact. We also have a safety switch on the pump power line itself incase it's running and not drawing water so it doesn't burn out.

Big question now that I have a novel here, is my husband right? Can breakers just go bad at times do to switching them on and off a lot. All the other breakers are fine. I don't want to doubt my husband but we really can't afford an electrician right now, he has changed breakers and fuses before. He even told me we couldn't put a higher breaker on because it wouldn't serve the purpose it was meant for so he must know something.

Thanks in advance for any help, sorry if this is a really stupid question.

[Java_Bob]

breakers do go bad, did you go to the pump house and shut that switch/breaker/fuse box off then turn the one on in the house to see what happens

[justme]

NO, and I don't think my hubby did it either but am on it right now. That would rule it out. He thought of doing this but never bothered. Glad I asked as foolish as I feel. Thanks. Didn't expect a response that quick.

[justme]

OK, went out, shut the pump and breaker out there off, breaker in house back on and it popped off. I know this was a pretty stupid post but my husband is like that Tim on home improvements sometimes. I didn't want to undermine his knowledge but this is electrical and to me that's messing with death if you don't know what you are doing.

Keeping this entire forum bookmarked!

[HayZee518]

ok, if the circuit out to the pump house is open at the pump, then your problem lies in the line that runs underground to the pump. most pump lines are not uf cable but a triplex cable consisting of red, black and yellow. any cut in its insulation will in time get so corroded that it will separate and nothing will work. if this line has two breaks in it then it is possible that it is shorting between the two wires through the ground. dry soil wouldn't trip it but after a rain it would because of the dissolved acid and alkaline in the soil. Another thing to watch for is the breaker in the house and the fuses outside. are they both the same value? say a 20 amp two pole in the basement and two 20 amp plug fuses or cartridge fuses in the disconnect. if the pump motor were to short out, the overload could pick one of two places to trip or blow - the fuses or the breaker.

[normel]

Originally Posted by justme

OK, went out, shut the pump and breaker out there off, breaker in house back on and it popped off. I know this was a pretty stupid post but my husband is like that Tim on home improvements sometimes. I didn't want to undermine his knowledge but this is electrical and to me that's messing with death if you don't know what you are doing.

Keeping this entire forum bookmarked!

Your next step in diagnosing this problem will involve working inside the panel. You will need to remove the wire(s) that is(are) attached to the suspect breaker. If the breaker continues to trip with the wire removed, the breaker is bad. If it stays on, then the problem is in the wiring.

Working inside the panel can be dangerous. If you have a main breaker the will kill the power to all the breakers, then it is relatively safe, just remember there is still power feeding that breaker.

[Java_Bob]

Originally Posted by normel

Your next step in diagnosing this problem will involve working inside the panel. You will need to remove the wire(s) that is(are) attached to the suspect breaker. If the breaker continues to trip with the wire removed, the breaker is bad. If it stays on, then the problem is in the wiring.

Working inside the panel can be dangerous. If you have a main breaker the will kill the power to all the breakers, then it is relatively safe, just remember there is still power feeding that breaker.

yep try what Normel posted

[Java_Bob]

I know this was a pretty stupid post but my husband is like that Tim on home improvements sometimes.

that's funny

[HayZee518]

Java Bob - I envisioned Lazypup to be more like Tim the Toolman than Tim Allen himself. LOL