05·RB-BRE
Runbook — A breaker tripped
Part of the house went dead. Resetting a breaker takes ten seconds; the important part is knowing when not to.
956 N Noble Loop · Showing Edition · Rev A · Aug 2026
A breaker is a safety device that did its job. Something asked for more current than the circuit is rated for, or a fault appeared, and it opened. Resetting it once is normal and safe. Resetting it repeatedly into the same fault is how houses catch fire — so this runbook is really about telling those two situations apart.
In this house, “some outlets are dead” is not a power outage
The Powerwalls carry the whole house through utility outages, so if the lights are on in one room and not another, the utility is almost certainly irrelevant. It is a breaker, a GFCI, or a switch. Start here, not with power outage.
First, check — in this order
- What did you just do? A space heater, a hair dryer, a shop vac, a kettle — plugged in and switched on right before the lights went out. Unplug it. That is the cause in most household trips, and the circuit will reset cleanly once the load is gone.
- Look for a GFCI before you go to the panel. Outlets in bathrooms, the kitchen, the garage, and outdoors are protected by ground-fault outlets with TEST and RESET buttons. One GFCI outlet commonly protects several other ordinary-looking outlets downstream of it, so the dead outlet may be nowhere near the tripped one. Check every GFCI in the nearest bathroom, the garage, and outside — press RESET firmly until it clicks.
- Go to the main panel. The service equipment for this house is mounted outdoors on an exterior wall, alongside the Powerwalls, the solar inverters, the meters, and the solar disconnect. Exact wall, panel brand, and a labeled breaker photo to be captured at the walkthrough — see Start Here. Take a flashlight; the panel is outside and you will be doing this at night in the rain at least once.
- Find the tripped breaker. A tripped breaker sits between ON and OFF — slightly out of line with its neighbors, often with a small window showing orange or red. Run your eye down the row for the odd one out.
- Reset it properly. Push the handle firmly all the way to OFF first — you will feel it click past the tripped position — then back to ON. Flicking it straight from the middle to ON usually does nothing, which is why people conclude the breaker is broken when it is not.
- If it holds, you are done. Plug the offending appliance into a different circuit, or do not run it at the same time as the other heavy thing on that circuit.
- If it trips again immediately, stop. Unplug everything on that circuit and try once more. If it still trips with nothing plugged in, there is a fault in the wiring or in something hard-wired. Leave it off and call an electrician.
Two things never to do
Never fit a larger breaker to stop nuisance tripping — the breaker is sized to protect the wire, and a bigger one lets the wire overheat behind the drywall where you cannot see it. And never remove the panel cover (the inner metal “dead front”). Flipping breaker handles from outside the cover is a homeowner job; anything behind it is an electrician’s.
Symptom → cause → fix
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| One circuit tripped right after you switched something on | Overload — too much current on one circuit. | Unplug it, reset the breaker, and move the appliance to another circuit. Two high-draw appliances on one kitchen or bathroom circuit is the classic case. |
| A few outlets dead, breakers all look normal | A tripped GFCI upstream. | Hunt down the GFCI outlets in the bathrooms, garage, kitchen, and exterior and press RESET on each. Also check for a wall switch that controls those outlets. |
| Breaker trips the instant you reset it, with nothing plugged in | A short circuit or ground fault in the wiring or a hard-wired fixture. | Leave it off. Call a licensed electrician. Do not keep resetting it. |
| Breaker trips after a while, not immediately | Sustained overload, or a failing appliance drawing more than it should. | Identify what runs on that circuit and how long it takes to trip. That timing is diagnostic information an electrician will want. |
| Trips only when it rains, or only with an outdoor device | Water in an exterior outlet, fixture, or the irrigation wiring. | Reset the GFCI once things dry out. Recurring wet-weather trips mean a seal has failed somewhere — an electrician’s job, and a cheap one. |
| A breaker is warm, buzzing, discoloured, or smells hot | A failing breaker or a loose connection. | Do not reset it. Switch it off if you can do so safely and call an electrician the same day. |
| Half the house is dead, not one circuit | A lost leg of the service, a main breaker, or a subpanel feed. | Check the main breaker and any subpanel. If the main is on and half the house is still dead, call Clark Public Utilities, 360-992-8000 — a lost service leg is theirs. |
| Everything is dead | Not a branch breaker. | Go to power outage instead. |
| A breaker is off and it is labeled solar, PV, Powerwall, or Gateway | Someone switched off part of the energy system, or the system opened it deliberately. | Do not simply switch it back on and walk away — check the Tesla app first, and see solar looks low. If the app shows a fault, contact Tesla Energy support rather than re-closing the breaker. |
| An AFCI breaker (with its own test button) keeps tripping | Arc-fault detection — sometimes a genuine fault, sometimes a noisy motor or LED driver. | Note what was running. Repeat trips need an electrician; arc faults are the ones you want taken seriously. |
The best twenty minutes you will spend in this house
Map the panel. Get a helper, work through the breakers one at a time, and write down what each one actually controls. This house’s panel labeling is being documented at the walkthrough, but nothing beats a map you made yourself — and you only need to do it once. Photograph the finished panel and keep the photo on your phone.
Owner's edition
Full details in the owner's edition — serial numbers, configuration and identity details continue in the complete manual, handed to the buyer at closing.
Stop and call a pro when…
- The same breaker trips twice with nothing plugged in — licensed electrician. Two trips is data; three is stubbornness.
- Anything is hot, buzzing, scorched, or smells of burning plastic — licensed electrician same day, and 911 if there is smoke or heat you can feel through the wall.
- The main breaker itself trips — licensed electrician, and mention that the house has solar and battery storage when you book, so they arrive expecting it.
- Half the house is dead with the main on — Clark Public Utilities 360-992-8000 (24-hour customer service 360-992-3000).
- The breaker in question is part of the solar or Powerwall system — Tesla Energy support via the Tesla app, not a general electrician, unless the electrician is comfortable with PV and storage.
One practical note when hiring: mention up front that this is a home with a 36-panel solar array, two Powerwalls, and a Tesla Wall Connector. Any competent electrician can reset a breaker, but you want someone who is not surprised by the equipment on the exterior wall.
Related pages
- Start Here — panel location and photos.
- Power outage — if it is the whole house rather than one circuit.
- Solar production looks low — if a solar or Powerwall breaker is involved.
- No heat — the furnace has its own switch and breaker, and this is a common cause.
- Clark Public Utilities — Outages & Safety
Source for the outage line 360-992-8000 and 24/7 customer service 360-992-3000. - Clark Public Utilities — Contact Us
General customer service and service-related enquiries. - Washington State L&I — electrical basics for home and business owners
What a homeowner may do, and when an electrical permit and inspection are required in Washington. - Washington State L&I — Verify a contractor
Check that any electrician, plumber, or HVAC contractor you hire is licensed and bonded before they start.