How to Test a Faulty Breaker
- 1). Purchase a circuit tester, known also as a circuit tester, that is rated to test circuits up to 500 volts.
- 2). Place a rubber mat on dry ground below the home's breaker box, or wear shoes with rubber soles. Open the breaker box's front cover. Loosen and remove the screws that hold the box's inner cover in place, using a screwdriver. Carefully pull out the inner cover and place it to one side. All of the circuit breaker's terminal screws will now be easily accessible, and they are live. Do not touch any bare metal inside the breaker box by hand.
- 3). Locate the faulty breaker, and turn its switch to the "on" position. Touch one of the circuit tester's end prongs against the faulty circuit breaker's terminal screw that is attached to the black/red wire, and the tester's other prong against the breaker box's grounding bar. The grounding bar has the green/bare ground wires from all the home's circuits connected to it.
- 4). Look at the light on the circuit tester. If the light does not turn on with the tester's prongs in place, the circuit breaker is faulty and needs to be replaced. Carefully pull the prongs from their position, and turn the faulty breaker's switch to its "off" position.
- 5). Replace the breaker box's inner cover and tighten its screws with the screwdriver. Close the breaker box's outer cover.
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