Why does my electric keep tripping?
Your electrics trip because a safety device has spotted a problem and cut the power on purpose. The trip is not the fault itself. It is a sign that something on that circuit needs looking at.
Most homes have two kinds of protection in the fuse board. An RCD (residual current device) switches off when electricity leaks to earth, which is the kind of leak that can give someone a shock. An MCB (miniature circuit breaker) switches off when a circuit draws too much current or there is a short circuit. Knowing which one tripped narrows the search straight away, so it helps if your photos show the board after a trip.
- Moisture in outside lights or sockets
- Rain gets into garden lights or outdoor sockets, often after heavy weather.
- A faulty appliance
- Kettles, washing machines and immersion heaters are common culprits.
- Damaged cable
- A nail or screw through a cable, often after shelves or flooring go in.
- Overload
- Too many high-power appliances on one circuit trips the MCB.
- Short circuit
- Live and neutral touching, usually at a damaged fitting or cable.
What should I do if my fuse box keeps tripping?
Unplug everything on the affected circuit, reset the switch, then plug things back in one at a time. If it trips when one appliance goes back in, that appliance is the likely cause and you can leave it unplugged.
If it trips with nothing plugged in, the fault is in the fixed wiring, a fitting or an outside light. At that point it needs testing. Please don't keep resetting it. A switch that trips straight away is doing its job, and forcing it back on again and again can make a damaged cable or connection worse.
If you notice a burning smell, a socket or switch that feels warm, or brown scorch marks, switch that circuit off at the fuse board and leave it off. Stop using it until it has been checked. If you smell burning and can't find the source, or see smoke, call 999.
Why have my sockets stopped working?
When one socket or a group of sockets goes dead and nothing has tripped, the usual cause is a loose connection. Ring circuits link sockets in a loop, so one loose wire can cut power to several sockets at once.
Connections loosen over time as cables heat and cool, or when a socket has been pulled about by heavy plugs and adaptors. A loose connection can also run hot, which is why a dead socket with any sign of browning should be left switched off. We find the break in the circuit, remake the connection properly, replace the socket if it is damaged and test the whole circuit so you know it is sound.
Why do my lights flicker?
Flickering lights are most often caused by a loose connection or an LED bulb that doesn't suit the dimmer switch. The first is a wiring fault that needs fixing. The second is a compatibility problem that is usually simple to sort.
Many older dimmers were designed for filament bulbs. LED bulbs draw far less power, so an old dimmer may not control them smoothly. The result is flicker, buzzing or lights that never quite switch off. Swapping in an LED-compatible dimmer, or dimmable bulbs that suit it, usually cures it.
If the flicker affects several rooms, comes and goes with heavy appliances, or happens with plain on/off switches, it points to a loose connection in a switch, ceiling rose or junction box. That needs tracing and fixing before it gets worse.
How does an electrician find an electrical fault?
We work through the system step by step, ruling things out until only the cause is left. Guesswork wastes your money, so the testing does the work.
- Read the board
- Which device tripped, and on which circuit, tells us where to start.
- Rule out appliances
- Everything unplugged, then tested back in one at a time.
- Isolate circuits
- Each circuit tested on its own to pin down where the fault sits.
- Insulation resistance test
- Shows whether cables are leaking to earth or to each other.
- Continuity tests
- Finds breaks and loose connections along a circuit.
- Inspect the likely spots
- Outside lights, sockets, junction boxes and recent DIY work.
How much does electrical fault finding cost?
You get one fixed price before we start. It is based on your photos, or on a survey visit if the photos don't tell us enough.
Some faults are clear from photos, such as a scorched socket or an outside light full of water. Then we can give one fixed price for finding and fixing it. Others are hidden inside walls, and nobody can honestly say how long they will take to trace from a photo. In that case we give a fixed price for finding the fault. Once we know the cause, we give a second fixed price for the repair, and you decide whether to go ahead.
The price depends mainly on how the fault behaves, how many circuits are involved and how easy the wiring is to reach. If you have other small electrical jobs, add them to the same request and we can do them on the same visit.
Do landlords need an electrical safety check?
Yes. In England, private landlords must have the electrics inspected and tested at least every five years, under regulations that came in in 2020. The result is an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report).
A tripping circuit or dead socket in a rented home should be fixed promptly, and repairs flagged on an EICR must be put right within the time the regulations allow. We work with landlords and letting agents across Leicester, from terraces near the city centre to family homes in Braunstone and Glenfield. We can fix faults, carry out remedial work from an EICR, and supply the certificates you need for your records.