How to reset a wall "breaker" with red and black button?

Question

Hi, the electricity is off on my stove and fridge. I have a wall "breaker" (not sure if that's the right word) and tried pressing both buttons but nothing happens. Held the red one in for 30 sec, but nothing happened.

Answer 1

That sounds like a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFI) that is required where there is water. That's to protect you from getting shocked.

The red button usually is designed to turn the electricity off by tripping the breaker as a testing feature. Sometimes the GFI can go bad and needs to be replaced. Before you assume the GFI is bad------------------

You should still have a normal circuit breaker in your electrical panel box also. If you are lucky they will be labeled and you can reset it by shutting it off and then putting it back into the on position.

When circuit breakers trip they don't usually go all the way to the off position so if they aren't labeled you will need to turn them off one by one and turn them back on until you get power back .

Also you might try plugging in the refrigerator into another outlet and see if the stove works without it. Sometimes GFI can't handle both .

Answer 2

You should hear a clicking noise when you push either button, caused by the breaker turning on and off.  If there is no clicking then maybe another breaker further back has also tripped (try the main fuse box).

I'm not sure which of the buttons is "reset" (on) and which is "test" (off), so once you get the power supply to the breaker back on, you will need to find that out by experiment.

It's also possible that either the breaker or the wiring has become faulty.  If so, it's time to call an electrician.

Answer 3

normally the fridge and stove run off the breaker box-try finding that breaker and turn it off all the way then back on-if they are running on ground fault breaker it could be bad if its not resetting-unless there is a major short causing it not to reset it be all you do is push black button