How can you tell if theres a short circuit

Question

just asked a general question

Answer 1

Dave is correct. This is how to check it in more detail.

Answer 2

is there a fuse blown?

Is there a circuit breaker that has flipped?

Is your house on fire?

Answer 3

Most always,a tripped breaker is the first indication of a short circuit.

In an automobile,a blown fuse will be the first indication.

Answer 4

USA    With the circuit deenergized, check continuity between the hot and neutral, and between the hot and ground.  If you have no resistance between either of the two, there is a ground fault (commonly called short circuit).  A circuit breaker that trips instantly as soon as you turn it on also is an indication of a fault.

Answer 5

There's a general lack of knowledge about just what a "short circuit" is.  In order for electricity to perform any work, it must travel through something with more resistance than the large wires that carry it around our homes and businesses.  It must pass through a light bulb filament to heat it up, or through an electronic circuit board with resistors and transistors, etc.  As it travels through these things and performs it's work, it slows down to a manageable speed, so that when it arrives back at the panel from where it started it enters it without blowing anything up, or causing a breaker to pop.   If there's a "short", that means that somewhere in the circuit for which the breaker won't stay set, two wires have decided to get together, ahead of the resistance, (work), and the electricity is going to take the "shortest" route back to the panel.   So, pretty much, if the breaker for a particular circuit won't stay on, or the fuse continues to blow instantly, then you have a "short", and it needs to be found and corrected.  They usually also make sparks.