Common electrical faults we get called for
Most fault-finding calls fall into a handful of patterns. Knowing which one you’ve got helps us come prepared, so it’s worth noting what happened and when.
- A safety switch that trips and won’t reset, or trips every so often
- Power points or lights that have stopped working in one part of the house
- Lights that flicker, dim or buzz
- A power point, switch or light fitting that is warm, discoloured or smells like burning
- Tingles or small shocks from a tap, appliance or metal fitting
- Circuits that trip when a particular appliance is used
- Faults that show up after rain, a storm or a power outage
If you’re getting tingles or shocks from anything, or you can smell burning, turn the power off at the main switch if it’s safe to do so and call us. Don’t keep using it to see if it happens again.
Why safety switches trip
Safety switches, or RCDs, trip when they detect current leaking to earth. That leak could be through an appliance, through damaged cabling, through water getting into an outdoor fitting, or in the worst case through a person. The safety switch is doing its job. The question is what it’s reacting to.
Common culprits include old kettles, toasters and fridges, outdoor power points and garden lights with moisture in them, and cables damaged by rodents or earlier renovations. On the Gold Coast we see a lot of trips after heavy rain, when water gets into outdoor fittings or roof spaces. Our blog post on why a safety switch keeps tripping covers some things you can safely check first, like unplugging appliances one at a time.
How we find the fault
Good fault finding is about being methodical rather than guessing. We start by asking questions. When did it start? Does it happen at a certain time of day, in wet weather, or when a certain appliance runs? Has anyone done work on the house recently?
From there we narrow it down. We isolate circuits, test insulation resistance to find damaged cabling, check connections at the switchboard, power points and junction boxes, and test appliances where needed. Intermittent faults are the hardest, because they may not show up while we’re there. In those cases we look for the conditions that trigger them and test under those conditions where we can.
Once we’ve found it, we show you what’s wrong and explain the options before we fix it.
Fixing it properly
The fix depends on what we find. It might be as simple as replacing a failed power point, tightening a loose connection or sealing an outdoor fitting that has let water in. It might mean replacing a damaged length of cable, or finding that an appliance is the problem and telling you it’s time for a new one.
Sometimes fault finding turns up bigger issues. An old switchboard with ceramic fuses, cabling that has broken down with age, or circuits with no RCD protection at all. We won’t push you into extra work, but we will tell you honestly if something isn’t safe. If a switchboard upgrade or new safety switches would solve the problem for good, we’ll explain why and give you a written quote.
Faults in older homes and coastal areas
Older homes are more likely to have tired wiring, loose terminations and joints buried in roof spaces. Heat in the roof on a Queensland summer day adds to the stress on old cable insulation. If your house hasn’t had any electrical work in decades, a fault may be a sign it’s worth having the whole installation looked at, and an electrical safety inspection can give you the full picture.
Near the beach, salt air is hard on outdoor fittings, meter boxes and anything with exposed metal. Corroded terminals cause poor connections, heat and nuisance tripping. We use fittings suited to coastal conditions when we replace them.
What affects the cost of fault finding
Fault finding is usually charged on time, because nobody can say for sure how long it will take until the fault is found. Things that help keep it quick:
- Telling us exactly what happened and when
- Letting us know which appliances were running at the time
- Clear access to the switchboard, roof space and under the house if there is one
- Knowing about any recent renovations or work by other trades
Once we know the cause, we’ll tell you what the repair involves before we start it, so there are no surprises on the invoice.
When it can’t wait
If you’ve lost power to the whole house and your neighbours still have theirs, if something is sparking or smoking, or if anyone has had a shock, treat it as urgent. Our emergency electrician page explains what to do and how to reach us. If the whole street is out, check with your network provider first, as it may be an outage rather than a fault in your home.