Breaker tripping with no load

Came back from 2 week vacation and the breaker which is dedicated to the washing machine power outlet had tripped. Reset everything flipped off and on and it trips immediately.

So I unplug the washing machine and repeat, breaker trips immediately with no load. Replace the breaker, same thing. Replace the power outlet as it looked about 10 years old, same thing happens.

I'm not an electrical expert and am unsure what the next step is to resolve this, all I know is that with 4 kids under 4 years old we have a lot of washing to do.

Any ideas? I'm guessing I will need to call out a licensed electrician to come take a look and fix.

 

If you can disconnect the wire from the breaker and then successfully reset the breaker, the problem is in the circuit. I'd check for any junction boxes or other devices on the circuit and look there for problems. If it is a dedicated circuit, replace it.

 

You have a short circuit somewhere. Strange that something happened while you were away.

 

Since you've already tried a different breaker and outlet about the only thing left is the wire connecting the two. Try as CasualJoe recommended and remove the wires from the breaker and see if it trips. If not then I'd suspect the wire as it's unlikely you have a junction box on a dedicated run though it is possible. Either way a short in the wire is dangerous and does need to be addressed.