Circuit breaker randomly tripping

Billo · Dec 21, 2019

Hi all,

A quick question from a novice so please bear with. Wondering if you can offer any advice.

Our circuit breaker has been tripping randomly, on and off over the last couple of weeks.

There isn’t a specific appliance that appears to cause the issue (I’ve switched everything off and back on in isolation to test). It could be tripping at any random moment, whether there’s lots of appliances running at one time or even over night we’ll wake up and it’s gone.

The only possible culprit is a new fridge freezer, which we brought not long before we noticed the issue. But, again, this can be running absolutely fine for days until electric trips randomly.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. My only thoughts are to replace the breaker.

thanks, Bill

ProDave · Dec 21, 2019

What EXACTLY do you mean by "circuit breaker"

A circuit breaker trips when it detects too much current, so would be very unlikely to trip at night with nothing on unless there is a serios wiring fault causing a short circuit.

On the other hand, if you mean it is an RCD that is tripping, then that could be a faulty appliance (don't just turn everything off, physically unplug all unused appliances) and that is much more likely to trip at any time due to an earth leakage fault.

There is little the average home owner can do to self diagnose this sort of fault as you won't have the right test meter to find an earth leakage fault, so the best bet is call an electrician. But best of luck finding one that can come before Christmas.

kerching · Dec 21, 2019

The ."circuit breaker" that trips.....does it have a button with the word TEST on it?

Murdoch · Dec 21, 2019

Billo said:
My only thoughts are to replace the breaker.

thanks, Bill

Randomly changing parts is unlikely to sure the problem.

As others have asked - what is tripping? MCB, RCD?

Doc Hudson · Dec 21, 2019

Billo said:
Hi all,

A quick question from a novice so please bear with. Wondering if you can offer any advice.

Our circuit breaker has been tripping randomly, on and off over the last couple of weeks.

There isn’t a specific appliance that appears to cause the issue (I’ve switched everything off and back on in isolation to test). It could be tripping at any random moment, whether there’s lots of appliances running at one time or even over night we’ll wake up and it’s gone.

The only possible culprit is a new fridge freezer, which we brought not long before we noticed the issue. But, again, this can be running absolutely fine for days until electric trips randomly.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. My only thoughts are to replace the breaker.

thanks, Bill

We need far more detail about exactly what is tripping, MCB, RCD, RCBO ? And swapping the device is extremely unlikely to resolve anything. The item that is disconnecting the power is almost certainly doing exactly what it is designed to do when it has detected a fault. You need to establish the cause, which is more likely to be something either on or in, one or more of your appliances, and/or circuit wiring. And if its an RCD, we then need to know if it is protecting multiple circuits?

Doc H.