What causes my GE microwave to trip the breaker

REASONS WHY YOUR MICROWAVE IS TRIPPING YOUR BREAKER

When an appliance such as a microwave oven repeatedly trips the circuit breaker, it’s overloading the electrical circuit, which is rated to handle a finite number of amps. Once the microwave exceeds that number the breaker is tripped and the electrical flow is shut off. In order for this type of reaction to occur, there must be one of two issues at hand:

• Too many items are plugged in to the same circuit that the microwave oven is on, causing an overload.
• The microwave oven is defective, and drawing an excessive amount of electricity.

Determining the exact cause of the problem involves a few simple steps:

A dedicated circuit is one which serves only one appliance, helping to protect your home and electronics. By having more than one major appliance on a circuit, you run the risk of overloading the circuit, and tripping the breaker. Repeatedly tripping the breaker can cause it to deteriorate, and if it should fail to trip, the overloaded circuit may cause wiring to overheat, placing your home at risk from an electrical fire.

A microwave oven needs its own 20 amp circuit, in order to prevent an overload. If it has a dedicated circuit, the tripped breaker should be labelled with the word “microwave”—if not, it’s likely a shared circuit. Regardless of whether your microwave oven is on a dedicated circuit, it’s a good idea to move on to the next step, to ensure the appliance is operating correctly.

Plug the unit in to an alternate outlet, in an area of your home where the breaker has a higher amperage, such as in a garage or workshop, or in to a outlet with a guaranteed dedicated circuit. If the appliance trips the breaker, the problem lies with the microwave, and you’ll need to either repair or replace it.

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