Electrical issue / breaker keeps tripping

If the breaker keeps popping or the outlet trips every time you turn the equipment on — that’s not “annoying,” that’s electrical protection doing its job.

This is the scenario I get called for all the time:

  • You turn on a fryer, steamer, ice machine, warmer, hood, etc.
  • Within seconds: click. Breaker trips. Power gone.
  • You reset it, it runs a little, trips again.
  • Now the display is dead and the line is stuck.

Let’s walk through what’s actually happening, what’s dangerous vs normal, what we test when we come out, and why you should never just “keep flipping it back on and hope.”

Typical complaints I hear

The kitchen usually says one of these:

  • “It keeps tripping the breaker when we start it.”
  • “The GFCI keeps popping.”
  • “The whole unit went dead, no lights on the panel.”
  • “It worked yesterday — today, nothing. Feels like no power at all.”
  • “We hear a pop in the panel and then it dies.”

From your side, it just means lost production.
From my side, I’m thinking: short to ground, moisture intrusion, overheated wiring, or a failing control.

Let’s break that down.

Why a breaker or GFCI trips

Electrical protection trips for a reason. It’s not random and it’s not “weak power.” It’s usually one of these:

1. Short to ground (hot wire touching chassis/metal)

This is one of the most common causes in commercial kitchens.

Example:

  • A heating element or motor winding breaks down internally.
  • The live conductor is now making contact with metal somewhere it shouldn’t.
  • The breaker or GFCI sees that fault and kills the circuit instantly.

This is good. That trip is literally preventing shock and fire.

What causes it:

  • Heat damage over time (burners, warmers, holding cabinets, coffee brewers)
  • Insulation rubbed through where a wire is touching a metal edge
  • Wiring that got pinched when someone pushed the unit back against the wall

What we do:

  • We shut power OFF.
  • We isolate the suspect component (element, motor, control board feed, etc.).
  • We run insulation/continuity tests to figure out what’s leaking to ground.
  • We repair or replace the failed part and re-test.

That’s how you fix the root cause instead of just flipping breakers all day.

2. Moisture or grease inside electrical areas

Water and electricity do not like each other. Add fryer oil / steam / chemical cleaner, and you get instant nuisance trips.

Where I see this:

  • Dishwasher booster heaters and control boxes
  • Steamers / combi ovens (steam migration into the control area)
  • Fryer control harnesses soaked with oil
  • Outlets or plugs near mop sinks or floor drains

What happens:

  • Moisture creates a conductive path where there shouldn’t be one.
  • GFCI (ground-fault protection) does exactly what it’s designed to do: it trips fast.

If you reset it and it instantly trips again, and that appliance also looks or feels wet — leave it OFF and step away from it. Don’t keep testing it live.

When I come in, I open panels, check harnesses and boards, dry or replace contaminated components, and make sure we don’t have live voltage tracking through oil or water.

3. Overload / overheated circuit

This is more old-fashioned, but it still happens.

Scenario:

  • You’ve got too many things running on one circuit.
  • The breaker is sized for a certain load.
  • You exceed that load — it trips on overcurrent.

This happens a lot with coffee stations, warming cabinets, portable griddles, panini presses, etc. Somebody added “just one more unit” to the same outlet that was already maxed.

That’s not a “broken machine,” that’s an infrastructure problem. That circuit is undersized for what you’re pulling off it.

We confirm current draw and tell you, “This needs its own dedicated circuit / outlet, not a daisy chain.”

If you just throw in a bigger breaker without upgrading the wire (people actually do this), you’re basically telling the building ‘go ahead and heat that cable until it melts.’ That’s how fires start. Don’t do that.

4. Internal control failure

Sometimes it’s not wiring or moisture. Sometimes it’s the electronics.

Inside a modern commercial appliance there are:

  • Control boards
  • Relays/contactors
  • Low-voltage transformers
  • Displays
  • Sensors

If a board fails in a way that creates a short, or a relay welds shut, you’ll trip breakers the instant that component energizes.

You may also see:

  • No display at all, even after reset
  • Display flickers and dies
  • Burnt smell in the control compartment

In that case we pull power, open the control area, and inspect for burn marks or blown components. If a board cooked itself, you don’t “reset” that. You replace it.

Dead display vs tripped breaker

Important detail:

  • Breaker/GFCI is tripping:
    You reset it and it IMMEDIATELY trips again when you turn the unit back on. That’s usually a direct electrical fault.
  • Breaker is holding but the appliance is dark (dead panel):
    That means the circuit might be fine, but the unit itself isn’t getting or distributing internal power — could be an internal fuse, failed transformer, or burned wiring in the unit.

Both are service calls. But they’re different animals.

If the entire circuit is still up but the machine is totally lifeless, I’m looking inside that piece of equipment first before I touch the panel/breaker.

If the breaker won’t even stay on with the unit plugged in, I’m looking for ground faults, moisture, or a failed high-draw component.

What you should NOT do

Please don’t:

  • Keep flipping a breaker or GFCI over and over hoping it “takes” on the third try.
  • Run an extension cord from some random outlet across the floor to “get through dinner service.”
  • Wrap electrical tape around a damaged cord and keep using it in a wet area.
  • Bypass a safety (GFCI, high-limit, internal fuse) because “we need it hot right now.”

Every commercial kitchen that ever burned equipment into the ground said the same thing: “We just needed to limp it through this one rush.”

If the breaker is telling you “no,” that’s the building protecting you.

What we actually do on a service call

When you call us for “keeps tripping power” / “dead display,” here’s how it normally goes:

  1. Safety first: power OFF
    We do not work with it energized unless we have to test under load, and even then it’s controlled. You should not be opening panels live yourself.
  2. Check the circuit
    We confirm if the issue is at the panel (breaker/GFCI condition, correct amperage, signs of overheating) or at the appliance.
  3. Insulation / ground fault tests
    We test whether voltage is leaking from a hot conductor to ground/metal.
    If a heating element or motor is shorting to chassis, we’ll see it.
  4. Open the unit and inspect wiring
    We look for:
    • burned spots
    • rubbed-through insulation
    • melted connectors
    • water or oil inside control areas
    • loose lugs on high-amp terminals
  5. Test the suspect component under call-for-heat
    We isolate sections (left zone, right zone, top element, blower motor, etc.) to figure out which part is guilty.
    If one component instantly kills power when energized, that’s our failure.
  6. Repair and verify
    We repair/replace the failed wiring, heating element, motor, relay, or board.
    Then we restore power, run it at normal load, and confirm it runs without tripping.

Your end state should be:

  • The breaker/GFCI stays on.
  • The unit powers correctly.
  • The display/control panel is stable.
  • No smell of burning, no popping, no surprise shutoff.

When it’s not a repair call — it’s “turn it off now”

You do not keep running it if:

  • The breaker trips and you smell burning plastic or see smoke when it comes back on.
  • The cord, plug, or outlet is hot to the touch.
  • You see sparking, arcing, or hear crackling from inside the unit.
  • There’s standing water or oil in/around the plug or under the machine.

At that point it’s not “productivity,” it’s “fire risk.” Shut that outlet/circuit down and stop using that piece of equipment until it’s inspected.

FAQ: Electrical trips in commercial kitchens

Why does this piece of equipment trip the breaker but the other ones don’t?
Because that one has an internal fault (short, moisture, failed part) or it’s drawing more than the circuit can safely supply. The other units aren’t the problem — this one is.

Is it safe to reset a GFCI outlet one time?
If it tripped once and it holds afterward, fine. If it trips every time the unit turns on, stop. That’s it telling you there’s a ground fault — which is a shock hazard, especially in a wet kitchen.

Can we just put it on another outlet?
Dragging a high-draw unit to a random outlet (especially with an extension cord across a wet floor) is not a solution. You’re just moving the hazard somewhere less controlled.

The machine is completely dead now, no lights. Does that mean the breaker is bad?
Not always. That could be an internal fuse, a cooked transformer, or burned wiring inside the unit. We have to open the unit and test it.

Do you fix wiring in the wall or just the appliance?
We repair and replace internal wiring, controls, heating elements, contactors, etc. If we find a building-side problem (like an overloaded circuit, cooked outlet, or undersized breaker), we’ll tell you that needs an electrician.

Final word from a tech

If a breaker or GFCI keeps tripping, that’s the system protecting your kitchen from a short, shock, or fire. It’s not “annoying,” it’s a warning.

Here’s how this should go:

  • You stop resetting it over and over.
  • You take that piece of equipment out of service.
  • We come in, test for shorts to ground, check wiring and insulation, open the control section, and find the failed part.
  • We repair it, prove it can run under normal load without tripping, and only then it goes back into production.

That’s how you keep your cookline running without risking someone getting lit up or the breaker panel going dark in the middle of service.

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