Quick answer
A DB board trips for one of three reasons: overload, where a circuit is carrying more current than it is rated for; a short circuit, where live and neutral meet through a fault; or earth leakage, where current is escaping to earth, usually through water or damaged insulation. Which device trips tells you which it is — the breaker is protecting the wiring, the earth leakage is protecting people.
Common causes
- Overloaded circuit with too many high-draw appliances — heaters, kettles and air-fryers together
- Short circuit in faulty wiring, a damaged plug top or an appliance flex
- Earth leakage from water reaching an electrical part, most often a geyser element or a kettle
- Faulty breaker at end of life tripping below its rated current
- Lightning-induced surge damage to a circuit or an appliance
- Damp reaching outdoor sockets or garden lighting after rain
What you can do now
- 1Unplug everything on the affected circuit, reset, then add appliances back one at a time until it trips
- 2Never repeatedly reset a breaker that trips immediately — find the fault first
- 3Note whether the breaker or the earth leakage is tripping; they mean different things
- 4Check whether it correlates with rain, with the geyser cycling, or with a specific appliance
- 5Switch the geyser breaker off overnight as a test if the earth leakage trips at night
When to call a professional
If isolating appliances does not identify the fault, or the earth leakage trips even with everything unplugged, book electrical fault finding the same day. An earth leakage that trips with no load is reporting a fault in the fixed wiring, and that is a shock risk rather than a nuisance. A registered electrician will insulation-test each circuit and issue findings you can act on.
Typical cost in Johannesburg
Fault finding R650 · Repair quoted
Indicative ranges only. We provide written, itemised quotes before any work.
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