Why Does My Circuit Breaker Keep Tripping? Causes and Fixes (2026)

A tripping breaker is the most common electrical call-out in Perth, and the most common one people can sort out themselves in ten minutes with the right method. It's also the one where the wrong fix — a bigger breaker, a bypassed RCD, a "just keep resetting it" — turns a nuisance into a fire. This guide covers what each cause looks like, how to work out which one you've got, what you can safely do, and what it costs when it's our job.

Open the switchboard door. A circuit breaker is a small switch labelled with an amp rating (10, 16, 20, 32 A) and a circuit name — lights, power, oven. A safety switch (RCD) has a "T" or "Test" button and usually covers two or three circuits. An RCBO is both in one, per circuit, with a test button. They trip for different reasons:

• A circuit breaker trips on too much current — overload or a short circuit.
• A safety switch trips on current leaking to earth — a faulty appliance, moisture, damaged cable. If it's the one with the test button that keeps going, read our safety switch tripping guide; the method below still works.
• A fuse board (ceramic fuses, no switches) blows fuses rather than tripping, and if you're replacing fuse wire regularly the board is due for an upgrade.

1. Overload. The circuit is asked for more current than its rating — the kitchen circuit with the kettle, toaster and microwave running, or a heater and a hair dryer on the bedroom circuit. It trips after a few seconds or minutes of heavy use and resets fine. The fix is spreading the load or a new circuit, not a bigger breaker.
2. Short circuit. Live touches neutral — a damaged appliance cord, a nail through a cable, a failed heating element. Trips instantly, often with a bang or a scorch mark, and trips again the moment you reset it with the faulty thing connected.
3. Earth fault (RCDs and RCBOs). Current leaks to earth through a damaged appliance, a wet outdoor point, a leaking hot water unit or perished insulation. The safety switch trips, sometimes only in the rain or when a particular appliance runs.
4. Faulty appliance. The single most common cause. Old fridges and freezers, kettles, toasters, heaters, washing machines, pool pumps, the reticulation controller — anything with a heating element or a motor. It trips when the appliance starts or cycles.
5. Worn or faulty breaker. Breakers do wear out, especially in older boards and boards that run hot. It trips at a fraction of its rating, feels loose or warm, or won't reset with everything unplugged.
6. Storms and surges. Perth's summer storms and winter fronts bring lightning and network switching that trip RCDs and, occasionally, damage breakers and the electronics behind them. A surge protection device at the board is the fix; a board that trips every storm is telling you something.

1. Note what was running when it tripped. The oven? The aircon starting? Rain?
2. Switch off and unplug everything on that circuit — every appliance, every power board.
3. Reset the breaker: push it fully off, then on. If it won't stay on with nothing connected, stop — it's the wiring or the breaker, and that's our job.
4. If it holds, plug things back one at a time, waiting a minute each. The one that trips it is your fault. Retire it or have it repaired.
5. If it holds with everything back on but trips later under heavy use, it's overload. Count what's on the circuit; a kitchen circuit shouldn't carry the fridge, kettle, toaster, microwave and dishwasher.
6. If it only trips in the rain, it's an outdoor point, garden light, pool or retic circuit, or a leaking hot water unit — leave it off and call us.

• Don't fit a bigger breaker. A 20 A breaker on a circuit wired for 16 A lets the cable overheat before anything trips. This is how roof fires start, and it's illegal.
• Don't bypass or tape a breaker on. Same reason.
• Don't open the switchboard beyond the door. Everything behind the escutcheon is live and licensed work in WA.
• Don't run a heater or a kettle on an extension lead or power board to "get around" a circuit that trips — the lead becomes the weak point.
• Don't ignore a warm switch, a buzzing board or a burning smell. Those are the signs before a fire, not after.

• Reticulation controllers and garden lights after the first winter rain — the transformer or a junction box is full of water.
• Pool and spa pumps with worn seals leaking to earth.
• Old fridges and chest freezers in the garage — a compressor on its way out.
• Ducted aircon and split systems starting on a circuit that's already loaded, or a failing capacitor.
• Halogen downlights with a shorted transformer in the roof.
• Hot water units with a failed element leaking to earth — the RCD trips when the thermostat calls.
• 1970s–80s boards with breakers that have simply worn out, and no spare ways to fix it properly.

• Fixed-price fault finding — we tell you the cause and the price of the fix before doing it.
• Same-day for a circuit that's down, $0 call-out fee.
• Faulty gear replaced with Clipsal, Hager or NHP; RCBOs offered where a circuit has no safety-switch protection.
• Licensed electrical contractor EC15449, 300+ five-star Google reviews. See our fault finding and circuit breaker pages.

We fix tripping breakers across the Perth metro — Morley, Dianella, Joondalup, Canning Vale, Rockingham, Ellenbrook and everywhere between.

Breaker tripping and you can't find why?

Call 0422 117 839 or book online. Fixed-price fault finding, $0 call-out fee, same-day where we can. More on our fault finding service.