# I Feel Like A Total Moron When This Happens **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 26, 2010, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-total-moron-when-this-happens/544579 "2010-06-26T08:20:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-total-moron-when-this-happens/544579/21 "2010-06-27T01:49:51Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > But you didn’t have any power. I have a notebook and a mobile Three modem. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-total-moron-when-this-happens/544579/22 "2010-06-27T02:36:30Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Beer is always in a carton here not a case. For this brand, that is 30 cans of Victorian Bitter. Damn–you all get more beer in a carton than we do in a case (24 bottles or cans here). I like the phrase reticulated bore–I’m sure I dated a few in college. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-total-moron-when-this-happens/544579/23 "2010-06-27T04:14:11Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > When the breaker trips, it flips toward the Off position. To reset it, you either have to push it all the way to Off (it’s kind of like a hammer at half-cock), or turn it On, then Off, then On. Basically, the tripped position isn’t actually the Off position. Damnit, I got beaten to it, too. **Cicero** , a circuit breaker isn’t a fuse. They _can_ blow but most of the time they “trip” by separating the connections they’re guarding. You reset them by cocking it back past the off position and flipping it to on. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-total-moron-when-this-happens/544579/24 "2010-06-29T23:28:06Z")
I am not an electrician. I work in an electricity utility emergency call centre in the UK and have talked hundreds of people through resetting what we non-qualified personnel typically call a “trip switch” Based on these calls (and I repeat NO qualifications on my part): There are many different models in the UK and only a small number are three position. These have typically ON, OFF, and TRIP, with trip being the position between on and off. If a transient fault or certain other influences (for example a light bulb blowing or a lightning storm in the area) causes the trip to operate it will go to the TRIP position and in this case you have to turn it all the way off first, then turn to ON. Most trips are just 2 position though and when tripped they simply go to OFF and you cannot turn them any further off than they already are. Just push straight to ON. In both cases if you correctly reset them but they flip immediately down to the off or trip postion again then you have probably have one of the following : 1) a faulty appliance or fault on your house wiring 2) a faulty trip 3) you haven’t pushed the trip back to ON firmly enough. The only self diagnosis we can give over the phone is that mostly it’s a faulty appliance but to please note that a faulty appliance can set off the trip even if it is switched off and turned off at the socket…you must completely unplug appliances to truly isolate them. Reason being you have a connection in and a connection out of the appliance and the on/off switch on the appliance and the on/off switch on the socket only breaks ONE of them. If it’s plugged in then it’s still attached to your installation. The button by your trip switch is the “Test” button. if you push it, it simulates a fault. You use it to check your trip switch is functioning correctly…if you push it and your trip does not operate then your trip is malfunctional and not protecting you. Hope this trained call centre monkey view may be of interest 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-total-moron-when-this-happens/544579/25 "2010-06-30T00:00:15Z")
TPWombat, thanks very much for the reply. The switch is exactly the same as here- two position, not three. I did push it back to on very firmly a number of times. The electrician did say they can get “sticky” (whatever that means). He also mentioned a faulty appliance, although everything has been working fine since I will just put it down to one of those things. The switch is a Clipsall f anyone is aware of the brand. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-total-moron-when-this-happens/544579/26 "2010-06-30T00:44:08Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > TPWombat, thanks very much for the reply. The switch is exactly the same as here- two position, not three. I did push it back to on very firmly a number of times. The electrician did say they can get “sticky” (whatever that means). He also mentioned a faulty appliance, although everything has been working fine since I will just put it down to one of those things. > > The switch is a Clipsall f anyone is aware of the brand. The trip position is not labelled, and does not look very different from the Off position. If you want to diagnosis the problem, next time it happens, have a friend unplug **one at a time** each appliance on the circuit, while you try to reset the breaker after each item is unplugged. (A cell phone comes in handy for this.) Of course, if you have lots of outlets on the breaker (enough time for the breaker to cool) or you aren’t sure of everything that is on the breaker, this could take several power outages. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-total-moron-when-this-happens/544579.md?page=1)