What Is An Electrical Circuit Short?

Welcome to another episode of Check A Pro Radio! Today, we're delving into the crucial topic of your home's electrical system. Our special guest, Luke Strange from Cool Hand Electric, joins us to shed light on common electrical issues and how to address them safely.

We kick off the discussion by understanding what an electrical circuit is and what can cause it to short out. Luke explains the differences between AC (alternating current) and DC (direct current) and highlights the dangers of electrical shorts.

Luke shares real-life experiences and emphasizes the importance of calling a licensed electrician if you notice any signs of electrical damage, such as smoke, sparks, or residue around outlets. He advises against attempting DIY repairs, especially with circuit breakers that frequently trip.

Learn why replacing a circuit breaker with a larger one can be hazardous and the significance of using the correct amperage. Luke also discusses the dangers of outdated fuses and the risks associated with ignoring electrical issues.

Don't miss this episode packed with essential electrical safety tips to protect your home and loved ones. Tune in for expert advice and practical solutions from Luke Strange at Cool Hand Electric!

For More Information visit them at www.coolhandelectric.com or call them at 469-874-0198

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Check A Pro Joe here on the Check A Pro Radio Show
we're going to talk a little bit about your home's electrical system
and i have got Luke Strange joining me here from
cool hand electric hey Luke how are you doing great doing great a lot of us
have heard about this it's a short in the electrical circuit why don't we start
with what is an electrical circuit and what shorts it out or what could sure so um.

(00:30):
There's AC and there's DC electricity.
Okay. So for houses and home wiring, it's going to be AC or alternating current.
And then for your cars and vehicles, anything fed off of a battery is going
to be DC, direct current.
So for what I'll talk about is specifically for alternating current, you have a power source.

(00:53):
And so you have what we call a hot is the slang term, but
it has voltage on it and then we have a neutral which
doesn't have voltage on it and that voltage
goes through a light bulb or some sort
of what we call a load it'll go through a light
plug appliance and then it'll come back through the
circuit to the neutral and the neutral completes the

(01:14):
circuit well when you have a short somewhere in
that pathway instead of going through that load properly
they're touching and what happens is
it's like it would be like an arc weld it's it
would be you know that's how you would it's ridiculously hot very
dangerous and cause melting of different things but that's how they weld if

(01:35):
it's controlled you can weld metal together with a short but that's essentially
what we're dealing with wow so i have experienced before which is really
shocking where you get that top, the spark.

(01:57):
The black residue and the, whoa, I am glad that that screwdriver I shouldn't
have had there was insulated. Right.
If it wasn't it, I mean, it can really hurt, you know, I mean,
it hurts your arm to stop your heart.
It could throw you across the room and it's, it's really dangerous.
And so if you see, the.

(02:19):
Smoke or smell it you see some residue on an outlet let's say or on the end
of a plug something has gone wrong somewhere and you need to call a licensed electrician correct,
yeah i mean i mean if you care about your stuff yeah it's just not dangerous
without i mean it's not safe without so um i mean you can if you're if if you

(02:43):
turn off everything you want to investigate it yourself and you know more power
to you but there's there's a lot of things that can go wrong Especially if you're seeing damage,
it really does need to be traced out properly and make sure that the wiring
to those outlets that are smoking, make sure that the conductors, the integrity is good.
Because there's just, I've seen tons of things go wrong if it's left unattended to. Yeah, absolutely.

(03:08):
Here's something else I want to tell homeowners.
It's related to this. if you have a circuit breaker in your panel that continuously
trips there's a problem yeah do not,
try to replace it yourself and do not replace it with a larger one that can

(03:30):
take more because that those wires that circuit was designed most likely if
the correct breaker is in there right Luke Luke, if that's correct,
you do not want to put 20 in a 15. Explain.
No, you're absolutely right. The reason being is that.
If it says 15 if it says 20 or 30 or

(03:53):
whatever the number is on that circuit breaker um you're
absolutely correct the the breaker is designed to kick
off at that certain amperage and amperage is essentially
heat okay um and so if that wire is only rated for 15 amps and it's kicking
off on you it's irritating maybe you got a window unit or space heater you got
multiple appliances on there and you just hey let's put a bigger breaker on

(04:15):
i see that all the time they used to actually do Remember them old Edison screw fuses?
Oh, the fuses. Yeah, the glass fuses. Yeah. Yeah.
That's why they became so obsolete was because you could screw in a 20.
Hey, that blows through. Screw in a 30. It all fits.
It was super easy. But what they didn't realize is it's extremely unsafe,

(04:35):
and it needs to be sized properly for that wire.
And so, yeah, you're absolutely right. You can't put a larger breaker on there.
It needs to be tested and see the amperage that it's running.
And then if you're left to reset and it, Hey, I've seen this a lot too.
They'll reset it. Hey, it doesn't trip anymore. Great.
Not all the time. If you're still running the same equipment and it's not tripping

(04:58):
anymore, those breakers aren't meant to trip for those ones are accurate for
about 20, 25 years, depending on the brand and the usage of them.
So if they're, if it's just staying on, that could be a bad thing too.
If you're using the same equipment and you haven't had that inspected and you're
pulling the same amperage and that breaker now is staying on,
That means the springs and the oils inside of that circuit breaker have been compromised.

(05:20):
You know, if it's in the on position and it's not kicking off when it's supposed
to and you keep on resetting it, it'll just hold in that position because that's what heat does.
So, yeah, definitely, if you're dealing with tripping breakers consistently,
you need to have that inspected.
I've seen a lot of bad things. Here, I got one. Check this out.

(05:42):
Look at that. This was, this was one, the connection right there.
The person had a, had a windy unit. Look at that sucker.
It kept on reset. It wasn't until the wire feeding something else stopped working.
They're like, Hey, nothing else is working, but they just kept on resetting
that thing, which they didn't know.
It's fine. I'm not judging them, but it was extremely dangerous.
If they had curtains, could you imagine what happened if you had something in

(06:04):
front of there? I mean, yeah, it's, it's very dangerous.
It's not just to be, you know, ignored yeah and let's not be dramatic here but
there are a number of house fires in the United States of America on an annual
basis because of either faulty wiring or other electrical issues and uh it's
you're probably not going to burn your house down because of your plumbing,

(06:25):
it's probably going to be electrical right now you might flood your house and
i i really have rather have that's not good either or no but I'd rather have
a flooded first floor Luke than a burnt down house because fire doesn't seem
to stop and it burns up. And so it's very dangerous.
Luke Strange, as always, thank you so much for joining me here on Check A Pro

(06:46):
Radio. I appreciate your expertise today. This was fun. See you, brother.