I have had this issue for the last month or so that is driving me crazy. My electrical knowledge is pretty limited so I will try to describe as best as II can what I tried and any advice will be greatly appreciated: About a month ago, one of the GFCI outlets in the kitchen started tripping. This GFCI is on a line with 6 plugs including itself. At least all the 6 are connected to the same fuse in the basement. However only one of the plugs shuts off when the GFCI trips. The others are still on after that. There is just one GFCI on that line. When it first started to trip, the line had a microwave, a toaster, a refridgerator, and a set of indoor christmas lights plugged in. I thought it got overloaded. I could not reset it so I replaced the entire GFCI plus the plug next to it that was shutting off along with the GFCI. This is pretty much as far as I can go when it comes to electricity. Things started to work and were fine for 2 weeks when the GFCI tripped again. This time however was more severe and I think the GFCI melted because it had this distinct smell inside. This time I called an electrician. $100 later he did exactly the same thing I did and replaced the GFCI again and said he sees nothing wrong anywhere else. Things worked again for 2 weeks and this morning the GFCI tripped and melted again (has the smell again). This time the only thing that was on the line was the refridgerator still and a power supply for a laptop. I am at loss on what to do? First, can I just leave the GFCI in the state that it is in at the moment which is tripped and off along with the one next to it or do I have to shut off the entire line? Can a fire start the way things are right now? Second, what causes this? Could it be a random plug somewhere else on the same line? I noticed that the plug which is at the end of the line where the christmas lights were plugged (which is when everything started) also had the laptop plugged in this morning and the GFCI started tripping almost right at the same time. It was the first time in a few weeks that something was plugged in this one. Could it be something wrong with that one and should I try to replace it? Or could it be the refridgerator? Like I said, any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I have a 5 yr old home with 200 amp service running to home. My dryer is a fairly new Whirlpool front load combo blah blah. Anyway, in the past the breaker has tripped at the pole, not inside. I would go reset, no big deal. Today, 3 times! Now, my only common denominator in the incidents is the dryer. 2 of the times heat pump was also running, but always dryer in mid cycle. Now in my breaker box, there is a double 30 amp breaker on the dryer that has never tripped, always trips at pole. No gas in home, so everything runs on electric (in case that matters). Basically I am lost. Why is this happening? Dryer is working fine, as far as functionality (I have read a few places where "element going out" or "it not heating right" and those are signs of dryer CAUSING the issues? I guess). I can do a lil bit of everything, safety first, and believe I can handle little issues. Gonna turn all breakers off 2mar and start checking connections in box, making sure lines in are tight & no loose connections. For the record, when heat kicks on, light on house dim and flicker for split second. All info, help, or things to check are appreciated. I am trying to hold off on an electrician as long as possible. Had one here LAST WEEK because an entire circuit of plugs & lights went out because on a loose wire on a wall plug, that just happened to be the 1st in a series of 12 plugs or switches. 15 mins, 1 $8 plug ,& $200 of labor later (from a long time family friend electrician); can't handle another hour of labor like that!