My step-son just called. He lives in a mobile home. He stated that the fuse box was extremely warm and when his girlfriend touched one of the breaker switches, it immediately tripped off. I have no background in electrical issues. Does he have a short going on in his main panel? Any ideas folks?

My suggestion to him was to unplug all his expensive electrical appliances and electronics and call an electrician/handyman to come out in the morning.

Heat means that there is a lot of resistance. This could be caused a by a bad/loose contact or something pulling a lot of load like a dead short. Definitely have an electrician check it out as it could start a fire.

His girlfriend said she noticed the burning smell after she started doing laundry. ( I don't know if it was while washing or drying.) She mentioned a few months ago that she was getting water through her dryer vent area. Is there possibly a connection?

Have them unplug everything thats on that circuit that tripped leave it off and let it cool. One faulty breaker can cause alot of heat in a closed breaker panel.

Any idea what size the breaker that tripped is???? That will tell us alot of imformation.

This is a tough one and I'm afraid to misdiagnose anything and someone gets hurt or theres property damage. Personal safety here is tantamount.

Have him inspect and test the smoke detectors. We all should be doing so anyway. Not to freak you out its for safety.

Try to moniter the heat in the panel and determine if its cooling off any, if permissible leave the panel door open, but only is its safe. Be very cautious. Visually inspect any and all devices for external damage or signs of trouble. Check every plug, switch, and fixture involved with that circuit. Ive had a small amount of water leak through a roof and into a electrical box that caused similar issues and the lights never even went out.

Wild guess.... faulty breaker under an overload condition, ie; the breakers not tripping correctly and theres too much stuff plugged in and running on that circuit. Wild guess only tho.

Hope it’s not an old mobile home (pre-1976) built with aluminum wiring. I think some still use aluminum for large gauge wire connected to electric ranges and clothes dryers. That’s usually not a problem unless a connection becomes loose. They shouldn’t use the washer or dryer again until the wiring is checked out by an electrician.

quote Originally posted by spark1: Hope it’s not an old mobile home (pre-1976) built with aluminum wiring. I think some still use aluminum for large gauge wire connected to electric ranges and clothes dryers. That’s usually not a problem unless a connection becomes loose. They shouldn’t use the washer or dryer again until the wiring is checked out by an electrician.

That's where I was going to go. Older trailers had Aluminum wiring, and any load on that would make it get hot. Get it checked out, and at the very least get the major stuff (dryer, heater, water heater) changed to the proper grade copper wiring. It's worth it.

Also, if it is an older trailer make sure all smoke detectors are working, and that the exits are not blocked. I'm a redneck, and have lower standards than most would, and I would not live in a trailer with aluminum wiring. That bizarre mixture of wiring prone to catch on fire, and windows too small to get through make me too nervous.

Brad

Edit to add: It doesn't have to be a pre 1976 trailer. If the owner put in new wiring at some point, and replaced it with aluminum.

[This message has been edited by twofatguys (edited 05-15-2011).]

We lost our home to a fire that started in our wash room. Not something to mess around with.

Are the electrical outlets over loaded as with four plug adapters plugged into a normal two plug receptical ?