About two in three homeowners who call us about a tripping circuit can actually fix it themselves — and we’d rather tell you that upfront than have you pay a call-out fee for something you can sort in five minutes.
I’m Oliver from Saunders Electrical Group. Here’s the exact process, the same one I walk through in the video below, so you can try it before you call anyone — including us.
Step 1: Go to every power point that’s not working and unplug everything
Walk through the house and physically pull every plug out of every socket on the affected circuit — not just switch them off at the wall, actually unplug them. Don’t forget double power points, where there’s often a second plug hiding behind the first.
Step 2: Check for anything easy to miss
Heaters, baby monitors, anything tucked behind furniture — these get missed constantly and they’re often the culprit.
Step 3: Go back to the switchboard and reset the circuit
Once everything’s unplugged, flip the tripped breaker or safety switch back on.
- If it stays on — good, the fault is one of the appliances you just unplugged. Head to Step 4.
- If it trips again immediately — stop here. Don’t keep resetting it. That points to a fault in the wiring or the switchboard itself, not an appliance, and that’s not a DIY job. Call a licensed electrician.
Step 4: Plug appliances back in one at a time
Go around the house and reconnect everything one by one, checking the switchboard after each one. The moment the circuit trips again, you’ve found your faulty appliance.
Step 5: Don’t plug that appliance back in
Once you’ve identified it, leave it unplugged and get it repaired or replaced. In the video, it was a faulty heater — a $40 part causing what looked like a house-wide electrical fault.
A few easy steps can save you an unnecessary call-out fee. But if the circuit won’t hold power even with everything unplugged, that’s your sign to stop troubleshooting and get a licensed electrician out before it happens again.
FAQ
Do I actually need to call an electrician for a tripping circuit?
Not always. Roughly two-thirds of the tripping-circuit calls we get in the Hills District turn out to be a faulty appliance, not a wiring fault — something you can identify and fix yourself using the steps above. If the circuit won’t hold power even with everything unplugged, that’s the point it becomes an electrician’s job.
Why does my power keep tripping?
Most commonly it’s a faulty appliance overloading the circuit or causing a short. Less commonly, it’s a fault in the wiring or switchboard itself — which is what you’re checking for in Step 3.
Is it safe to reset my own circuit breaker or safety switch?
Yes. Turning it off and back on is safe to try yourself. What’s not safe is repeatedly resetting it when it keeps tripping straight away — that’s a sign of a wiring fault, and it’s time to call an electrician rather than keep flipping the switch.
What does it mean if the circuit trips again immediately after I reset it, with everything unplugged?
It means the problem isn’t an appliance — it’s likely in the wiring or the switchboard. Stop resetting it and call a licensed electrician.
How do I find out which appliance is causing my power to trip?
Unplug everything on the affected circuit, reset the breaker, then plug items back in one at a time. The circuit will trip again the moment you reconnect the faulty one.
Need a hand? Book an electrical safety check or call SEG for emergency electrical service.