Circuit Breaker Keeps Flipping

[Art Maydan]

The bottom unit of my duplex is a 2BR and both bedrooms are on one circuit breaker. Most of the other breakers are a 20V but this one is a 15V. The tenant says that it keeps flipping and all he has plugged in is a modem, TV, and CPAP machine (this might use a lot of power, but what am I gonna do?). He’s tried hitting the “reset” button a few times and it’ll hold for half a day and flip again.

Does anyone have an idea of what the issue is and how much it’ll cost me to fix? I spoke with an electrician and he’s making it sound like this is going to be a seriously expensive endeavor. He says:

“Unfortunately you may have a very large issue. The system I suspect may have never been wired correctly to begin with and that is unfortunately a common problem. To solve this is a 2 part solution. Step a is to replace the breaker and a have preliminary look around which takes a few man hours typically. About 80 percent of the time problem solved.

If not step 2 we have to completely rewire the circuit that breaker controls which typically takes 2 men 30 to 90 minutes each box we have to pull through. This step typically takes 2 guys about a day sometimes longer. Sorry about the bad news but we need to be upfront about it.

Let me know if you have any questions or if are prepared to proceed.”

I don’t know anything about electrical work. It took me 2 hours to replace one of those test button outlets last weekend and I was pretty proud of myself… I have no way of knowing if they’re trying to rip me off or do unnecessary work. How would you suggest I proceed?