[ale] (Somewhat OT) Blown circuit breakers?

[Geoffrey]

Chris Woodfield wrote:
> As I'm sure there are a few folks with electrical experience here...
> 
> I'm in the middle of a bathroom remodeling project, and yesterday my  
> wife was putting down drywall mud around an electrical box that had  
> live wires coming out of it (yeah, I should have capped them...), and  
> accidentally shorted them with a mudding knife, which tripped the  
> circuit breaker. She reset the breaker, and carried on...until later  
> that night, I did the same exact thing. However, this time the power  
> did not come on when I reset the breaker, and every outlet/light  
> attached to that breaker is now dead.
> 
> I've never heard of a "blown" circuit breaker before, so is that what  
> I should replace first (It's a 15A single-pole breaker)? Or should I  
> be looking at a possibly melted wire somewhere in my wall? I'm going  
> to replace the breaker, as they're cheap, just looking for other  
> possible problems this could have caused.

Actually, I've replaced two circuit breakers in my home as they went 
bad.  But, before you do that, since it's in a bathroom, it should be a 
GFCI circuit, so look for a GFCI outlet that has a reset button on it 
and reset it.

Be aware that some builders stretch those circuits to accomodate various 
locations.  For example, my  outlet in the basement is tied to one of my 
bathrooms.

-- 
Until later, Geoffrey

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
  - Benjamin Franklin