If a circuit breaker trips and stays on for a limited time before tripping again, what is it least likely to be caused by?

When a circuit breaker trips and then remains on temporarily only to trip again later, this behavior is typically indicative of thermal events or transient conditions. Ground faults, where unintended ground contact occurs, often lead to a more immediate and consistent tripping of the circuit breaker without it being able to reset, rather than a cycle of tripping and holding. Ground faults usually cause the breaker to interrupt the circuit to prevent dangerous situations due to fault current flowing to the ground, so it is less likely for the breaker to experience a cycle of brief operation followed by tripping.

On the other hand, situations like overloads, short circuits, and voltage surges can create conditions that cause repeated tripping. An overload can allow a circuit to operate for a certain duration before exceeding the breaker’s rated capacity, leading to a trip. A short circuit generates a large surge of current that will consistently trip a breaker immediately, but in certain minor scenarios, it could exhibit temporary resets if the fault is intermittent. Voltage surges typically lead to momentary spikes, which might cause secondary issues leading to tripping, but they can present transient disturbances that allow for temporary operation before tripping again.

Therefore, the behavior exhibited by the circuit breaker is least likely to be a result of a