Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - Heatpump breaker tripping . .no heat in the house .. please help

Since last night, our heat pump was acting up. The breaker kept triping and finally this morning it completely stopped working. Every time we turn it on, the breaker trips. I had the same issue last year and change the breaker and the problem was resolved. So this morning I went to homedepot, bought a new breaker and had it replaced but that didn’t help. As soon as we turn on the heat pump, it trips. Any idea what could be causing the problem? Is it possible that my new breaker is defective?

I'ts possible that your compressor has shorted to ground. If you have a multi-meter and know how to use it you can check it out. If not you'll need a tech.

thanks for the reply .. yes, i do have a multi-meter and know how to use it .. . . How do I test to see if compressor has shorted to ground? Do I need to open the outdoor unit or are all wirings inside the electrical box i see attached to the outdoor unit? .. thanks ..

A breaker that is known good and trips immediatley upon compressor trying to start 90% of the time indicates a shorted compressor> Lock out and tag out power sources remove the three compressor leads and check each one for ground to the compressor housing report back results.