Circuit Breakers: Do they degrade over time and start tripping

circuit breaker

Sorry for the newbie question but I have a circuit breaker (Hager Series MP-E – Magnetic Switch Bipolar 30 A Curve) in my house that absolutely never tripped. This is the main CB in my house. Usage patterns of electric appliances has not changed and this thing started tripping for no obvious reason. Also when it trips it remains in the "on" position, you have to manually set it to "off" and then back to on again.

My question is, if I replace it will it change anything or I need to look somewhere else for the cause?

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Thank you!

Best Answer

Don't assume it is the breaker...

I had a tripping fault that was intermittent, spent a huge amount of time looking for it...

Eventually it became so frequent that I disconnected room by room every single appliance and eventually found the culprit - a washing machine that was failing when under load and hot...

So, it may not be the breaker - it could just be doing its job and keeping you safe from faulty equipment... You need to investigate.