There are several different situations that would keep a circuit from being reactivated after a breaker has been tripped. Here’s the four most common ones:

1) When a breaker has been tripped—whether it’s because of pushing the test button on a GFCI or AFCI breaker, or because of an overcurrent event—the switch moves to the middle position between “ON” and “OFF” on many electric panels. If you are trying to reset it just by pushing the switch back to the “ON” position, it will just pop back to the middle again. You have to push the switch all the way to the “OFF” position, then back to “ON,” in order to reactivate the circuit. See photo below.

2) If you push the switch to “OFF,” then back to “ON,” and it trips back to middle immediately, then there is a “short” in the circuit, meaning that an unintended route has been created by a defect that allows the current to flow unimpeded by an appliance load. The excessive current trips the breaker again virtually immediately. It’s time to call an electrician.

3) Another thing that will trip a breaker is too many lights and appliances drawing more amperage than the rating of the breaker.  Excess electric current gradually overheats a thermal link in the breaker and usually, if that’s the problem, the breaker will reset but trip again a few minutes after being reset. To double-check that diagnosis, try disconnecting some of the electrical loads on that circuit, reset the breaker and wait a few minutes. If it doesn’t trip again then the problem is too many things on one circuit, or a single appliance—like a portable space heater—that draws more current than the rating of the breaker.

   “But sometimes it will not reset until it has cooled down a little bit,” according to Craig Eaton, a local electrician. “If you wait a couple of minutes, and then the breaker will reset, it’s another sign that an overloaded circuit is the problem.” 

4) If you are able to reset the breaker to the “ON” position, but some or all of the receptacles it serves are still dead, you should suspect a tripped GFCI- receptacle somewhere in the home. GFCI is an acronym for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter and GFCI-receptacles provide shock protection in wet areas of the home, like the kitchen, bathrooms, garage, laundry, and exterior. They have two buttons in the center of the receptacle. One is marked “TEST,” and the other is “RESET.” When the GFCI-device inside the receptacle has tripped, the “RESET” will be popped out forward of the test button. Unfortunately, sometimes that is hard to discern, so the best way to check is to push the reset button and see if it pops inward—which indicates that it was tripped.

    When GFCI-receptacles were a new technology, from the 1980s through the 1990s, they were expensive. Home builders took advantage of the fact that one GFCI-receptacle in the first location after the electric panel of a string of receptacles running around the house would protect all of the ones downstream. So a single GFCI-receptacle, typically in the garage or one of the bathrooms, would protect all of the other bathroom, garage, and exterior receptacles in the home. 

    This means it’s a good idea to check all of the GFCI-receptacles around the home first before calling an electrician, if one dead receptacle refuses to re-energize after all the circuit breakers in the electric panel have been checked. We occasionally find instances where a receptacle in a non-wet location, like a dining room or sun room, has been been dead because of a tripped GFCI-receptacle at a distant location in the home; so check all the GFCIs even for a dead receptacle in a dry room.

    Also, see our blog posts What is the life expectancy of a circuit breaker? and  Why do some breakers in my electric panel have a "TEST" button on them?

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Here’s links to a collection of our other blog posts about ELECTRIC PANELS:

• What causes copper wires to turn green or black in an electric panel?  

• What is the maximum number of circuit breakers allowed in an electric panel?

• When should a corroded or damaged electric panel cabinet or disconnect box be replaced? 

• What is a tandem circuit breaker? 

• When did arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) breakers first become required?

• Can an electric panel be located in a closet? 

• Can an electric panel be located in a bathroom? 

• Can you add circuit breakers by different manufacturers to an electric panel if they fit?  

• What is a split bus electric panel?

• How do I identify a combination AFCI (CAFCI) circuit breaker? 

• What does a circuit breaker with a yellow or white test button indicate? 

• What is the maximum gap allowed between the front of a recessed electric panel box and the wall surface surrounding it? 

• What are the requirements for NM-cables entering an electric panel box?

• Why is a fuse box/panel an insurance problem for homebuyers? 

• Why is bundled wiring in an electric panel a defect?

• What is the difference between GFCI and AFCI circuit breakers? 

• Why are old electrical components not always "grandfathered" as acceptable by home inspectors?

• What happens when you press the "TEST" button on a circuit breaker in an electric panel?

• What is a Dual Function Circuit Interrupter (DFCI)? 

• What is the difference between a Combination Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (CAFCI) and an Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) circuit breaker?  

• What is the difference between "grounded" and "grounding" electrical conductors? 

• What does it mean when a wire is "overstripped" at a circuit breaker?

• Why is an old fuse panel dangerous?  

• Who is the manufacturer of those "bad" electric panels?

• Why is the circuit breaker stuck in the middle? 

• What is a double tap at a circuit breaker?

• What is the right electric wire size for a circuit breaker in an electric panel? 

• My circuit breaker won't reset. What's wrong? 

• What is the right size electric panel for a house? 

   Visit our ELECTRIC PANELS page for other related blog posts on this subject, or go to the INDEX for a complete listing of all our articles.