Breaker tripping - how to troubleshoot?

[Mike Folks]

Outlets can fail, especially ones not made in the U.S. back stabbed are quick to install but problematic as time goes by,I always use the side terminal screws, with the "Hook" bent around the screw body, then tightened the screw.

 

[bw77]

Outlets can fail, especially ones not made in the U.S. back stabbed are quick to install but problematic as time goes by,I always use the side terminal screws, with the "Hook" bent around the screw body, then tightened the screw.

The outlet is Eagle brand, made in USA. Nearly all the connections I have seen in the house are back-stabbed.

 

[Mike Folks]

So,now you know what to look for in the future,stuff happens....

 

[sparky 1971]

I still have my doubts that the receptacle was bad. I have never seen one go bad enough to trip a breaker without it being visibly damaged. It's possible, but not probable. I think it's more likely that if it was installed in a metal box, the screw terminals on the hot side were touching the side of the box and you fixed it when you pulled the outlet out and didn't even know it.

On a side note, from 1995 to 1998 I worked for a contractor that used Eagle devices exclusively. They were the biggest pieces of junk known to mankind at the time. I would always grab at least three extra each of gfci's, single pole and three way switches, and if the plan called for a four way, a couple of them. I don't recall ever having a bad duplex out of the box though. I heard that there was a deal that for every bad device we returned, Eagle would give us two as a replacement, but I can't verify that as fact. They may have gotten their act together since, but using them 25 years ago left such a bad taste in my mouth that I won't even give them another chance.

 

[sparky 1971]

I replaced the receptacle, plugged in the freezer and the circuit has stayed
up for over 24hrs. So either the receptacle was bad (no signs of that) or
something I did in the process of replacing it fixed the problem.

It's in a finished area of the basement, so it looks like any other part of the house.

Thanks to everyone for your advice and comments.

Here's the long version:

20A circuit in finished basement area with 7 duplex outlets. Freezer plugged
into an outlet in the middle of the circuit. Lamp plugged into the last outlet on the
circuit.

Circuit breaker started tripping at various times.

I unplugged the freezer and the lamp, no change (NC).

I replaced the breaker, NC.

I located the first outlet and disconnected the downstream wires, NC.

I disconnected the wires from the first outlet, circuit did not go down (4 day test).
Indicates bad outlet.

I replaced the outlet, connected the downstream wires, plugged in the freezer,
circuit has been up over 24 hrs. Fingers crossed, I hope this is the end of the
story.

In your original post, it seemed like there was only one outlet on the entire circuit. If I'd known there were seven of them, I would have had you pull all of them. The intermittent short could be in one of the boxes you haven't looked at, but I wouldn't worry about it unless it trips again.

 

[Walkers]

Hopefully you got rid of all the back stabbing in the process.

 

[rburke65]

Breaker could go bad in 3 to 5 years?!?! My house was built in 1970…all electric…never had a bad breaker In 51 years

 

[rburke65]

Sounds as if you are going to need to run a new feed.

 

[bw77]

I still have my doubts that the receptacle was bad. I have never seen one go bad enough to trip a breaker without it being visibly damaged. It's possible, but not probable. I think it's more likely that if it was installed in a metal box, the screw terminals on the hot side were touching the side of the box and you fixed it when you pulled the outlet out and didn't even know it.

Plastic box.