# Burned wire coming from circuit breaker



## rdmirando (Nov 1, 2010)

I have a circuit breaker that has recently begun to trip for no apparent reason--master bath lights. I reset it and all seems OK for a few days--then it starts again. This morning it happened again and the breaker would not reset until after 4-5 resets. Same thing happened again a few minutes later. I removed the panel cover to see if there was anything obvious---found that the wire coming out of the breaker was charred--insulation melted. Any idea what the problem is? Bad breaker or some other problem?


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## Jim Port (Sep 21, 2007)

Typical sources of heat damage are loose connections and high current draws on the circuit.

What is in use on that circuit? Was the screw tight on the breaker where the wire connects?


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## Lsparky (Sep 4, 2010)

Was the CB hot to the touch? Depends on the panel....if it was a Zinsco I would say that it was the CB and Buss bar connection...they are famous for just that.


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## rdmirando (Nov 1, 2010)

The CB is not hot to the touch. The CB controls MBR lights but not outlets, and the fan light combos in the MBR shower and two other showers. It also feeds a Leviton GFCI motor control and Misc. switch with test and reset buttons that look like GFI buttons. The screw coming from the CB is tight on the wire.


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## COLDIRON (Mar 15, 2009)

Sounds like some troubleshooting is in order, something is causing the problem...got to find it. If you had an amp meter you could check current draw on that breaker.


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## kbsparky (Sep 11, 2008)

If the wire connection on the breaker was tight, then the loose connection is inside of the breaker.

Replace that breaker.


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