Circuit breakers are extremely important. They provide security and prevent your house from becoming a hazard to life. They make sure that a short circuit or overloads don’t lead to dire, life-threatening consequences. Installing circuit breakers is usually done by electrical experts or electricians but it is not ideal to rely on them to do the job. You should have knowledge about the whole process so that you know what is going on. Remember that you should only hire professionals and experienced electricians for installing circuit breakers in your house if you’re an electrical noob. Hence, getting one installed is possible and can be done alone. Here are the steps that electricians follow when they are installing circuit breakers.
Basic Steps In Installing Circuit Breakers
- The main power panel is switched off first. This is very important to make sure that there is no current running through the wires.
- After this, the breaker panel is unscrewed. The typical house has just one panel. There may be live wires still that comprise of larger wires. These wires enter the panel and feed the breaker. The electrician has a device called the electrical tester using which he makes sure that no live wires are incoming. The tester must read zero in order for it to qualify as safe to install the new circuit breaker.
- Once the safety is checked, it is time to install the cable clamp. This step is quite simple. There are knockout the surround the edges of the panel box. One of these knockouts is hammered so that the new clamp can be installed or screwed into the panel. The wire will run through it now. The jacket of the wire installed is then cut very carefully.
- The next step involves connecting the ground wire. The ground wire is inside the circuit wire and without any sleeve. Care must be taken not to tighten it a lot because too much tightening can break the ground wire while placing it in the ground bar.
- A neutral wire is then placed into the neutral line. A neutral wire is usually a white wire. The tip is simply cut and it is inserted into the neutral line. It is then screwed so that it is in place but not too tightly.
- Now comes the step where the electrician or you will start installing circuit breakers. It’d be ideal to only buy good quality circuit breakers such as the Cutler hammer breakers. The screw that is present at the bottom of the breaker is loosened. The last wire – the black one – is placed below the screw. The screw is then tightened to keep it in place. There are 3 prongs on the breaker that help it stay in the right position. The prongs are then pushed in once the breaker is aligned to the right place.
Installing circuit breakers is now done! Your house is safe from overloads and short-circuits. Take note that installing circuit breakers should be done perfectly because doing it faultily would give you the exact opposite of having a safer house.