Short Circuit caused by ants???

[MR TRYIT]

Lost power to 3 electrical receptacles and 2 light switches all of them in the same circuit. Replaced what I tought was a faulty circuit breaker since resetting it did not fix the problem. Now the new breaker keeps flipping.

Started to inspect the receptacles and light switches. Still cannot find source of short circuit or whatever it causing the circuit not to work but to my amazement I saw a carpenter ant come out of the electrical box while I was checking the wires. Can ants (insects) cause short circuits???

Just wondering!

Thanks in advance for any feed back on the ants or possible solutions.

MR TRYIT.

 

[plugwash]

you need proper test equipment (e.g. an insulation resistance tester) to find this fault. If you don't have one and the knowlage to use it i suggest calling an electrician.

its possible indeed that either the ants have damaged the cable or theier dead bodies have shorted something out (or both) but that doesn't really change the procedure for fixing it which is to use the insulatoin resistance tester to find the bad cable run and then replace it.