Bad Breaker?

[smokey0810]

Had a covered porch area enclosed into a family room two years ago. Two outlets were added….last month both of the outlets stopped working….flipped the breaker a few times and outlets were back on. Used a three prong outlet tester, and both checked out fine. Tonight, same thing happened again. One outlet has a lamp plugged into it, the other is tv/sound bar/Roku plugged into a power strip. Any thoughts on it possibly being an old breaker?

 

[nadogail]

It might be and it might not. Do those things work fine on another breaker?

 

[AA/FC]

I recently had a brand new 30 amp double pole Siemens breaker that was bad from the store. Anything is possible....

 

[wyliesdiesels]

is the breaker a GFCI breaker regular?

what is the make and model of the breaker?

 

[bubinga]

It might be and it might not. Do those things work fine on another breaker?

l guess he could swap it out with one of the other breakers?

 

[smokey0810]

Square D and the breaker wasn’t changed when outlets installed. Breaker powers lights too, which work fine.

 

[mikedodge]

Breakers usually don't just randomly fail like that for no reason. Maybe something plugged into it is causing it to trip.
In theory the circuit protector on the power strip if it has one should trip before the breaker so you could try plugging the lamp into it too and see if that makes a difference.
You could try just replacing the breaker if there's nothing else obvious.

 

[BillK]

Breaker powers lights too, which work fine.

Do the lights still work when the outlets dont ?

 

[smokey0810]

Yes they do....Thought it was the first power strip we had plugged in, so I swapped that out for a newer one. Might just try and get a brand new one, see if that works...

 

[BillK]

Yes they do....Thought it was the first power strip we had plugged in, so I swapped that out for a newer one. Might just try and get a brand new one, see if that works...

If the lights still work then the breaker is probably fine. If its not the power strip then I would suspect the outlets and their wiring.

 

[WoodTime]

Had a covered porch area enclosed into a family room two years ago. Two outlets were added….last month both of the outlets stopped working….flipped the breaker a few times and outlets were back on. Used a three prong outlet tester, and both checked out fine. Tonight, same thing happened again. One outlet has a lamp plugged into it, the other is tv/sound bar/Roku plugged into a power strip. Any thoughts on it possibly being an old breaker?

The way you states this part in bold makes it sound like the breaker was tripping until it reset. If that’s true you may be dealing with a short that you temporarily cleared by blowing it open.

Sounds like you only have 2 outlets to deal with so I would remove them and make sure there are not any loose screw or wirenut joints. Make sure the ground does not fold up and make contact with the hot and neutral terminal screws on the outlet when reinstalling them into the box. Just some thoughts for you.

 

[WoodTime]

Also, in the rare case that the breaker is weak, you could swap the wire at the panel with another same phase breaker to see if the breaker still trips on a different circuit. Last case troubleshooting idea for you.

 

[walta]

Had a covered porch area enclosed into a family room two years ago. Two outlets were added….last month both of the outlets stopped working

Who did the electrical work?
Are the outlets GFIC protected?
Sounds more like a bad connection somewere.

Walta

 

[mike93lx]

There is likely something wrong with the first outlet in the circuit. Since the lights still work, it can't be the breaker

 

[mikedodge]

This is what you said first ".flipped the breaker a few times and outlets were back on."
If only part of what's on that circuit stops working it's not the breaker.

 

[Davefr]

If that room was an addition, I'd inspect the connection point where it was wired to the main house.

 

[bubinga]

This is what you said first ".flipped the breaker a few times and outlets were back on."
If only part of what's on that circuit stops working it's not the breaker.

Is it possible it's a loose connection, and flipping the breaker caused an arc that temporarily restored the connection?

 

[dave*99]

If that room was an addition, I'd inspect the connection point where it was wired to the main house.

This.

 

[mike93lx]

Is it possible it's a loose connection, and flipping the breaker caused an arc that temporarily restored the connection?

Plug in a space heater and follow the smoke

 

[claymont]

Just had a similar problem, lights flickering/losing power then coming back on without the breaker tripping. Replaced the breaker and the problem went away. Been two weeks since, no issue.

 

[driftpin]

I recently replaced a breaker, single pole 15 amp GE, and within a month it failed, turned out to be bad after a short time. No excessive loads on it, just lighting and a duplex outlet.