Had a 200 amp main breaker trip on a cool Tuesday morning for no clear reason

It happened at a small office building I was working on in Tacoma. The panel was only about five years old, and nothing new had been added to the load. I checked all the branch circuits with my clamp meter and everything looked normal, no signs of a short. I ended up calling the manufacturer's tech line, and they think it might be a weak internal spring. Has anyone else had a main breaker fail like this without a major overload?

3 comments

3 Comments

elizabeth_gonzalez2mo ago

Wait, a spider in a GFCI? @angelaellis that's wild. A weak spring in a main breaker though, that's just bad luck.

clairepark1mo ago

Seriously, the weirdest stuff causes trips. Nature finds a way into everything, even outlets. Just adds to the list of things to check now.

angelaellis2mo ago

Oh man, that's a new one. I once spent a whole day chasing a ghost trip only to find a spider had built a web inside a GFCI. Makes you feel real smart.