Got an issue..

I have a single pole 15 amp breaker that keeps tripping. It powers the master bathroom lights & fan plus one outlet next to the bathroom, basically 3switches for lights & 1 switch for a fan plus one outlet. The switches & outlet check out fine with no noticable damage on the wires that I can see or the devices. I've replaced the breaker with similar results. The wires leading to the breaker appear to be good.

At this point I'm out of ideas. Hopefully we have some electricians on board that could help me diagnose it.

Does it trip when you have something plugged into the outlet, or when the lights are on? Do you occasionally have an A/C on that outlet or just a fan? Did you open the junction boxes to check for any exposed wires which are not taped?

Update.. The circuit actually controls what is mentioned above, outlets in one bedroom (3 outlets), 1 outlet in one bedroom that shares a wall. Nothing is plugged in other than ceiling mounted lights. all the wires in the boxes are taped up and/or wirenuts and then tape. even the outlets have tape around them.

...a 15 amp is for lighting...when you say fan, are you talking about a bathroom fan, or a ceiling fan???...if you have not real recently ran something off the receptacles that required a 20amp breaker, in which it might have damaged the receptacle, i would look into replacing the fan that is in question...if it is a bathroom fan, open it up and unplug it...sometimes the problem can be in the makeup of the fan electrical which is generally accessable from the bathroom...;)

...a 15 amp is for lighting...when you say fan, are you talking about a bathroom fan, or a ceiling fan???...if you have not real recently ran something off the receptacles that required a 20amp breaker, in which it might have damaged the receptacle, i would look into replacing the fan that is in question...if it is a bathroom fan, open it up and unplug it...sometimes the problem can be in the makeup of the fan electrical which is generally accessable from the bathroom...;)

Its a bathroom fan.. The wiring was done when the house was built say 10 years or so ago.. Right now I'm gonna remove every outlet & switch, light, etc one by one to figure if I can find it. Another thing I'm thinking is toasted wire, we had a bad storm on Saturday or was it Friday and I suspect the lightning strikes we had nearby played a role.

#14 wiring uses a 15 amp breaker. #12 wiring uses a 20 amp breaker. Electrical codes of new installations require arc fault circuit breakers for bedroom outlets, and ground fault circuit interrupters on any electrical circuit which is within 6 feet of water. Lights would be on a separate breaker. How old is the house?

#14 wiring uses a 15 amp breaker. #12 wiring uses a 20 amp breaker. Electrical codes of new installations require arc fault circuit breakers for bedroom outlets, and ground fault circuit interrupters on any electrical circuit which is within 6 feet of water. Lights would be on a separate breaker. How old is the house?

House was built in 1999 so its only 8 years old. Not sure what the code was back then but I doubt it has changed much.. I can't figure out why the bathroom lights & fan are on the same circuit as some of the outlets on the 2nd floor.

..i would start with the bathroom fan...it is wired with wire nuts and i am betting this is the source of your problem...;) ok, not betting, but an educated guess...:D
...undo the wire nuts and look for a dark color on the bare wire...also, try to run everything with it disconected...

Is this fan a separate fan or a combo light/fan? Some models also come with a heater.

...the answer...the electrician put the together for the load count and close proximaty...as per code for several years, the bath fan is not to be on the same circuit as the lights as it requires a 20 amp circuit and 12 ga. wire...but normal construction in houses the do wire it with the bath light circuit...;)

Well its 3:30 AM here and I was bored and couldn't sleep.. So needless to say I started digging deeper into my electrical issue.. I suspects its either the switch for the attic fan or the fan itself. I basically removed the hot from each item one at a time verifying continuity. Hopefully its just the switch but I doubt it.. Looks like I'll be installing a attic fan here soon.

...how old is the attic fan??? i have replaced some that were within the ten year warranty...just take it to the place that sells them...i usually find a place that sells the model first, review the warranty, ask them about it and see what there policy is...also, some have longer warranties too...;)

May or may not be relevant, I tracked down a GFCI fault in my bathroom once, turned out the outside outlets were on the circuit also.

Dunno about the age of the fan.. Its probably less then 10 years old. I have yet to go up into the attic to investigate, its been way too busy recently for me to climb up into the attic. I'm hoping to go up there Saturday. Oddly enough, the way the contractor who wired this house, did it in the most odd way. I was always under the impression anything in a bathroom would be on its own circuit like all bathrooms on a circuit, all 2nd level bedrooms on a seperate circuit, yet I find myself with a circuit that runs thru so many rooms that I just can't help wonder what the hell the electrician was thinking.

...shamaal, a gfci is run wherever water is present...kitchen sink area, bathrooms, garge, ext. of the house...

blee1099, as in all trades there are good and bad...sometimes with electricians, the smart one workes on the panel and places all the boxes...the not so smart one only has to do the homeruns, aka, pulling the wire from each box to the panel and the smart one returns to do the panel make up...at that time the guy pulling wire might have been fired for waisting wire, lol...the cost of wire usually makes a smart guy shine as they don't waste it and there runs are usually well thought out and precise...;)

...shamaal, a gfci is run wherever water is present...kitchen sink area, bathrooms, garge, ext. of the house...

blee1099, as in all trades there are good and bad...sometimes with electricians, the smart one workes on the panel and places all the boxes...the not so smart one only has to do the homeruns, aka, pulling the wire from each box to the panel and the smart one returns to do the panel make up...at that time the guy pulling wire might have been fired for waisting wire, lol...the cost of wire usually makes a smart guy shine as they don't waste it and there runs are usually well thought out and precise...;)

I see it my field too.. I do alot of low voltage wiring, 25 pair cable, cat3/5/6, rg6/59/etc. I was doing work for one builder wiring and saw what a previous guy did. He daisy chained the coax throughout the house instead of homeruns. He was atleast smart to do the right thing with the cat5

..lol, it makes me think everytime about our high dollar cable company's out here...i've seen them do a swag lamp style rope, across several room ceilings in brand new multi million dollar homes as the owners are just moving in...you aught to see the fireworks, lol...

I dont know how your style box is, but loosen all the box clamps that hole the wires in, I too had a problem befor and we even hired a electrican but he never found out what it was....So someone told me what i said about and it worked

The boxes are plastic since they are residential. Definately a short from in the attic fan.. Not looking towards going up into the attic but then again it gives me time to add additional fans up there and to atleast run pull strings and cat5e for some rooms upstairs.