Why Is my Microwave Tripping the Breaker?

Microwave ovens changed the way kitchens were used all over America when they hit shelves in the late 1970s. Since then, these marvels of technology have made significant progress in terms of features, smaller sizes and greater capacity for cooking than ever before. With increased power comes more consumption of power; however, when your microwave is turning off the fuse in your home, it's a signal that your appliance is overloading its electrical system. The main questions to ask are what's the reason, what is the cause, and what can you do to resolve the issue?

Reasons Why Your Microwave Is Tripping your Breaker

If an appliance, such as the microwave oven, is constantly triggering an electrical circuit breaker, you're overburdening an electrical circuit that is built to handle a limited amount of amps. When the microwave is over this number, the breaker gets activated, and the flow of electricity is cut off. To allow this kind of reaction to take place, it must be the result of two problems to be addressed:

• Many items are connected in the same circuit the microwave oven operates on, which can cause overloaded.
• This microwave is inoperable and is drawing a large amount of electricity.

Finding the root of the issue involves the following steps:

Make sure to check whether the microwave is equipped with its own circuit.

A dedicated circuit serves just one appliance. It helps safeguard your electronics and home. When you place several major devices in the circuit, it has the possibility of overloading the circuit and potentially triggering the circuit breaker. The breaker's repeated tripping can cause it to degrade, and if it happens, it may result in the wiring overheating and place you and your family at risk of an electrical explosion.

A microwave requires its own circuit of 20 amp to prevent an overload. If it's a dedicated circuit, then the breakers that have tripped must be identified by the term "microwave"—if it's not, it's probably an open circuit. Whatever the case, if the microwave is on an individual circuit, it's best to proceed to the next stage to ensure that the appliance is working properly.

Examine the microwave to find out its condition.

Plug the appliance into an outlet that is not a part within your home where the breaker is of a greater amperage, for instance, in a workshop or garage or in an outlet that is guaranteed to have a designated circuit. If the appliance causes a trip to the breaker, the issue is with the microwave, which means you'll need to fix or change it.