What Causes Your Circuit Breaker to Burst

Circuit Breakers are electrical components designed to protect us against the risks of electric shock and our homes against fire and other types of damage that can be caused by electrical faults. Each circuit breaker in your electrical switchboard usually protects one or more related circuits against overload, short circuit and earth leakage.

In order to understand what causes a circuit breaker to burst (or more commonly known as trip), we first need to understand what a circuit is and what the terms overload, short circuit and earth leakage mean.

What Are Circuits?

The electrical installations in our homes are divided into electrically separated segments known as circuits. Each circuit provides electricity to equipment in a very well defined and specific group. All the light fittings and light switches are found on one circuit known as the lighting circuit. Air-conditioners, heating and ventilation equipment are grouped on another circuit known as the HVAC circuit. And last but not least, socket outlets are grouped on a circuit known as the power circuit.

Each circuit is made up of cables, switches, connections and other electrical equipment designed to carry only the maximum electrical current specified by the manufacturer. When exposed to current exceeding this maximum, the electrical component may break down, melt or catch on fire. Circuit breakers were introduced to ensure this does not happen by disconnecting the electricity supply when the electrical current that flows exceeds the maximum capacity that the circuit components can handle.