Electricians -Diagnose my main breaker tripping ?

[redfin00]

What brand panel is it?Problem should be beyond tripping breaker,heat typically means loose connection,which could be inside wore out breaker,other problems could be Zinsco brand,Federal Pacific.A breaker is only going to be reset so many times.This problem should have been addressed at the first trips,something is wrong!

[98skeeter202]

Bad connection causing heat or possibly bad breaker causing heat.

[bpicinc]

You need an electrician with amp meter and volt meter to check where your problem is!
I am an electrician.

[MichaelJ3]

I experienced the same issue about 3 years after moving into my (it was new) house, during a thunderstorm. Main tripped, was warm to touch near the main. I reset it once and it tripped again. I was sure it was thunderstorm related, but with 2 kids and the wife in the house, I wasn’t taking chances. Called an electrician, he torqued the lugs on the main feeds coming in, which were loose. Main feeds are aluminum. Electrician said it happens sometimes with Aluminum wires where they need to be re-torqued after initial install. It’s been 15 years...never had the issue again.

just don’t try to do it yourself, you need the proper diaelectric gloves so you don’t electrocute yourself...or you need to have the power company come shut off your feed...

i was sure sure it was thunderstorm related, but it was just loose lugs.

[Pilgrim]

Probably should have the electric company pull the meter and check the connections on both sides and electrician check the connections to the breaker while they have it pulled.

[firecap]

I would add each line have a amp load test. It will show load amp in use. Bad connection, bad motors, heat strips losing connectivity.

[5keepers2]

Tell us outcome.......it will help others!

[BroWhoop]

I'd say 75% chance it's a loose connection. Get an electrician ASAP.

This^ A good electrician should be able to help you out. I loose connection does generate heat but you may not be able to tell without instruments.

[brnzbaklvr]

I would say it has nothing to do with load coming from the house..If that was the case it should trip the individual breaker... I wonder if it could be a bad transformer from the Electrical company... Call them and they will check their end of things..They may find something in their meter..
I called the electrical company on an issue at my cottage with too high of voltage and they were out within a couple of hours .

[cneubass79]

I would say it has nothing to do with load coming from the house..If that was the case it should trip the individual breaker... I wonder if it could be a bad transformer from the Electrical company... Call them and they will check their end of things..They may find something in their meter..
I called the electrical company on an issue at my cottage with too high of voltage and they were out within a couple of hours .

That’s not actually true. You could still be overloading the main. Each circuit could be under its rated load but as a whole they could be drawing more than what the main can handle. A bad transformer would be screwing up more than just his main.

[KWH]

I would say bad main or loose connection. The breaker being warm not hot can be normal. The electrician will be able to safely check for loose connections and if the main needs replaced it shouldn't be hard to find a replacement versus a 30 year old panel.

[Mikez521]

Loose connection or bad breaker. That would be the first two things I would check. Picture of the panel showing breaker would help.

[Kenner18]

So, what did the electrician find?

[RazorCat]

Definitely take the previous advice and get a qualified electrician to look at it. The breaker may need to be replaced aside from any other issue found. They aren’t made to trip repeatedly an indefinite number of times.

[creekchub]

Breaker was bad -$468 later -electrician had to drive over an hour to supply house to get the replacement.

[bhjr.]

Damn, hope you got a jar of Vaseline included to help the insertion. Glad you got it fixed though.

[Nova Kaw 650]

Two times now in the past three weeks my main breaker on my panel is tripping . Tonight I had to reset it 3 times.
Panel is a little bit warm to the touch but not burning hot . Two weeks ago my wife called me and said the main breaker has tripped a few times . We have been in the house for 10 years since redoing the panel which is professionally done and this problem just started recently.. We called our electrical company and they came out and test the lines that go to the house and they said no issues . could the breaker for the main power be going bad or maybe it got wet in a storm or something ( no wetness to anywhere On /in panel )
I called an electrician hoping to get somebody in very soon but obviously there’s some kind of problem anyone dealt with anything like this before if so what do you think it might be ?
thanks
Creekchub

Above ^^^^ NEVER should a panel be anything but cold. Have it looked at immediately if any heat.
Glad you got it corrected.

[greg88]

You most likely have a bad connection causing the warm to the touch thing, have someone look at it as soon as possible Is the panel overloaded are what but I personally would get on this as soon as possible, we had one side ofthe main go bad in ours, and if we hadn't been at home it could have been very bad. Glad you got it fixed

[OBT]

And check the attic and make sure you don't have squirrels! They like to chew.

[grayline]

In the news..A New Jersey man is in the cold this evening when an electrical fire started in his attic...The owner stated he kept resetting the breaker so he could stay connected to the internet while he asked his friends what he should do..