Earth leakage tripping, DB board switching off, or lights going out repeatedly? Here are the most likely causes and when to call an electrician.
Diagnose Your ProblemWhen your power trips, your circuit breaker or earth leakage unit has detected a fault and shut off the electricity to protect your home. This is the safety system working as intended — but it's also a warning that something needs attention.
Tripping can be caused by anything from an overloaded circuit to a faulty appliance or a wiring fault. It's especially common after load shedding when multiple appliances restart simultaneously and overwhelm a circuit.
A single trip that doesn't repeat is often minor. Repeated tripping, or a breaker that won't reset, means you have an underlying fault that a qualified electrician needs to investigate.
Identifying the exact cause usually requires unplugging appliances one by one and testing circuits — something a qualified electrician can do systematically and safely.
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A single trip that resets and doesn't repeat is low urgency — but you should still identify and address the cause. Repeated tripping is a medium-to-high urgency issue because each trip indicates an active fault.
If your breaker trips and won't reset, or if you notice a burning smell, buzzing, or scorching at the DB board, treat this as urgent and do not attempt to repeatedly force the breaker. This can indicate a serious wiring fault or a breaker on the verge of failure.
The signs you notice at home can help determine how serious the issue is and how quickly a professional should attend.
This usually indicates:
Post-load shedding overload — multiple appliances restarted simultaneously and briefly exceeded the circuit rating.
Urgency: Medium
Recommended action:
Unplug heavy appliances before resetting, and switch them on one at a time after load shedding. Monitor for repeat trips.
This usually indicates:
Faulty appliance or overloaded circuit — a device with an internal fault is causing earth leakage trips, or too many appliances share one circuit.
Urgency: High
Recommended action:
Unplug all appliances on the circuit and test them individually to isolate the fault. Call a qualified electrician to inspect the circuit if no appliance is identified as the cause.
This usually indicates:
Serious wiring fault or failing circuit breaker — the board is detecting a severe fault and shutting down to prevent fire or electrocution.
Urgency: Emergency
Recommended action:
Do not attempt to force the breaker on. Switch off the main isolator if safe to do so and call an emergency electrician immediately.
Homeowners can safely unplug all appliances on the tripping circuit and try to identify whether a specific device is the cause. Switching off non-essential appliances after load shedding power is restored is also good practice to prevent overload trips.
Any investigation beyond that — checking wiring, testing the DB board, replacing a breaker, or tracing an intermittent fault — must be done by a registered electrician. In South Africa, all electrical work on fixed installations must comply with SANS 10142 and may require a Certificate of Compliance (COC).
A qualified electrician will start by resetting the board and systematically isolating circuits to identify which one is faulty. They'll use a clamp meter to check for current leakage and test each circuit under load.
If a wiring fault is suspected, they'll use insulation resistance testing equipment to pinpoint the location. Once the fault is found, they'll repair or replace the affected wiring, fitting, or component and verify the repair before signing off.
Leaving a repeated tripping fault unresolved means the underlying problem — overloaded wiring, a failing breaker, or a leaking circuit — continues to deteriorate. Overloaded or damaged wiring inside walls can overheat and cause a house fire.
Repeatedly forcing a tripping breaker back on without fixing the cause can damage the breaker itself, leading to a costly DB board replacement and potentially exposing your home to unprotected circuits.
Power trips due to overloaded circuits, earth leakage from faulty appliances or wiring, short circuits, faulty breakers, water ingress, or a specific appliance with an internal fault. The tripping protects you from electrical fires.
No. If a breaker trips repeatedly, there is an underlying fault that must be fixed. Continued operation can cause electrical fires. Reset once to test, but if it trips again, call us immediately.
We systematically test each circuit, use specialized equipment to detect earth leakages, check for overloads, test individual appliances, and inspect wiring until we identify the exact cause.
Yes, the power surges when electricity returns after load shedding can trip sensitive breakers or earth leakage units. We can install surge protection to prevent this.
Simple issues like resetting or replacing a breaker take 30 minutes. Complex faults requiring rewiring or multiple repairs may take 2-4 hours. We diagnose first, then provide timeframes.
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