Can a good breaker go bad?

After turning on and off circuit breakers to find the power sources for our upstairs and downstairs gas heating units, the "buggers" were shut off so we could install new digital thermostats. Both, incidentally, were identified as GFI breakers. After reconnecting all wires and turning the circuit breakers back on, the downstairs heater worked flawlessly. The upstairs unit, however, did nothing... literally. All wires and connections were double checked for accuracy. NOW, THIS MAY BE A REAL CLUE. I bought a recepticle tester today and placed it in the receptacle where the upstairs heater was plugged in. NO POWER TO THE HEATER. I can only assume that I have a bad breaker. I unplugged the heater after turning the breaker off as our home manual stated and then turned the breaker back on again. The receptacle still has no sign of life. Thus, the subject of my message: Can a good breaker go bad? Still pretty comfortable in Vegas at night, but without a functioning gas heater. If it could be a bad breaker, that should be easy enough to fix. Thanks for your insight. P.S. electricity to both units was flowing before I started this project!

 

Yes, a circuit breaker can go bad but I'll bet your problem is not the breaker.

Check the GFI breaker again and try re-setting the toggle as well as the ground fault tester. Also look for any GFI receptacles in the house and make sure they haven't tripped. Many times circuits are fed through GFI receptacles for protection of other (regular looking) receptacles.

Kooter

 

I agree with Kooter. Breakers go bad sometimes, but it seems unlikely that yours did. If you're comfortable with the dangers involved in opening up the panel, you can test the breaker with a voltmeter on the breaker screw. If it shows no voltage, shut off the breaker, remove the wire from it, reset it, and test again. Don't kill yourself conducting the tests.

I'll bet you have a wiring problem (a short or ground fault) in your circuit, probably in something you just messed with.

 

Hey Kooter and John:

Thanks for the timely and "spot on" reply. I systematically went through our entire home checking all receptacles using the GFI tester. When I came to a GFI receptacle, I reset it. Finally, I went back to the main power panel and turned each breaker off and on again. Presto, the gas heater and fan had power! Not only did I avoid killing myself conducting the tests you referred to John, but I also found some receptacles I never knew existed. Thanks for the feedback. This Web site is one great source of information for the do-it-yourselfer.

 

Good deal! Glad you got it working...and without any bodily harm!

Kooter