Safety Guide

When it comes to household electrics, your safety is paramount. Flickering lights, high bills, damaged appliances, etc. can all be a sign of electrical problems.

There is a general recognised method of approaching fault finding, which is referred to as the 5-point fault finding approach.

1. Gather information – Ask as many people as possible who were there, when and how the fault occurred.
2. Analyse Information – Decide the probable cause based on past experience and training.
3. Investigate – Now attempt to find the fault from your analysis.
4. Rectify – Once found, safely repair or fix the fault.

5. Test – When the fault is put right and restored, test your work before re-energising.

Step 1 : switch off the main switch, earth leakage unit and all the circuit breakers, unplug everything and switch off isolators (stoves, pool, geyser, etc.)

Step 2 : switch on the earth leakage unit first then switch on the main switch, if the earth leakage trips chances are you have a neutral fault, you need to call an electrician. If the earth leakage unit stays up/on go to step 3

Step 3 : Switch on one circuit breaker at a time and wait a second or two as you switch them on, if the earth leakage trips as you switch on a circuit breaker, leave the circuit breaker down/off and move to the next circuit breaker, if the rest of the circuit breakers are reset without tripping the earth leakage unit then you have identified the faulty circuit then you can start plugging appliance back in and switching on isolators, you will find some appliances don’t work, you will need to get an electrician to trace the fault. If all the circuit breakers reset without tripping the earth leakage unit, then go to step 4

Step 4 : Start plugging in appliances and switch on circuit breakers one at a time until the cable/ appliance trips the earth leakage, unplug the appliance which trips the earth leakage and leave it unplugged, you have identified the problem, you don’t need to call an electrician, just replace the appliance, if you switch on the pool isolator and it trips the earth leakage you know it is the pool causing the problem.

Flickering lights could be normal disruption of power through the bulb by means of a loose bulb, loose connection and voltage changes.

To avoid flickering caused by a loose bulb, the bulb needs to be tighten to its holder and the bulb holder needs to be replaced if it’s faulty. On the other side to avoid effects of loose connection, wire nuts and terminal screws on the light switches, circuit breakers and bulb holders needs to be properly fastened. For voltage changes, a well qualified and experienced electrician should be consulted.

If the plug socket isn’t working, the first thing to do is to reset your earth leakage and your circuit and then use your Voltmeter to check whether there is a voltage of about 220V flowing out of your circuit breaker, if not do check on top if there is any voltage flowing to the circuit breaker, coming from the earth leakage. If there is power going into the circuit breaker but doesn’t go out then the circuit breaker is faulty. If there is voltage or current flowing out of the circuit breaker then a socket tester should be used to check whether all the three terminals (live, earth & neutral) are all detected and correctly wired/connected. If the wiring standards are reached then the socket is okay but if not, check which terminal isn’t reflecting and trace it down then fix it. The socket can also be removed and a voltmeter can be used to test for voltage on the cables going into the socket, if a maximum voltage of +/-220V is detected then the problem is the socket then it needs to be replaced.

When it comes to a stove, your breaker might be tripping because your stove has damaged wiring, a bad terminal block, or one or more problematic burner switches. It’s also possible that your stove is fine but your breaker is undersized to work well with that particular model or just weak and requires replacement. Stoves tend to generate a leakage to earth, particularly in older appliances and in humid areas causing nuisance tripping, hence there is a reluctance to protect them with earth leakage devices.

If your household electricity is off, the first thing to do is to check whether your KWh prepaid meter is displays (ON) and if not then check your neighbours because there might be Load shedding, Load reduction or Power outrage in your area. If your neighbours do have power then contact ESKOM or Citi Power because the KWh meter is their property and private electricians are not allowed to fiddle nor temper with it.

If the prepaid meter is ON then use your voltmeter to test if there is voltage (utility power) in the Main Circuit Breaker top, and if there is no voltage then the problem is within the prepaid meter or its connection and yet again ESKOM or Citi Power should be contacted.

If the pre-paid meter is ON and there is voltage on the Main Circuit Breaker top from the pre-paid meter, tighten all the terminal screws then reset the whole panel and start checking for voltage from the all the circuit breaker (Main Circuit Breaker, Earth leakage, Standard Circuit Breakers) points, using neutral from the Main Circuit Breaker. Circuit breakers that doesn’t respond or allow current to flow that are faulty and needs to be replaced.

Faulty appliances, damaged or frayed cords or extension leads, electrical appliances in contact with water, incorrect connections, damaged or deteriorated house wiring can lead to electrical shock in electrical conducting surfaces in the house. Electrical shocks can be stopped or resolved by earthing/grounding your electrical panel/circuit and by ensuring that all your metal or copper pipes or equipment in the house is earth bonded. All wire nuts and terminal screws should be fastened to avoid loose connection and leakage and faulty appliances should be disconnected or fixed and appliances should be kept away from water or moist.

High voltage can cause light bulbs to burn too quickly. If the supply voltage to your home is too great, bulbs will generally burn brighter and burn out much faster.

– Excessive fixture or bulb holder vibration. Another cause of bulbs burning out is excessive fixture vibration. A good example of this is a ceiling fan with a light fixture. When a fan blade becomes unbalanced, the fan starts to shake, and the vibration jiggles the bulb filament and shortens its life. The same problem is common with light bulbs in garage door openers. You can try a rough-service bulb to correct this problem. These bulbs have heavy-duty filaments to withstand vibration better. 

– Wrong type of bulb. Although they have a reputation for lasting longer than incandescent bulbs, compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs are notorious for going bad before their time. CFLs are commonly touted to have a lifespan of about 10,000 hours, but if you’ve owned some of these, you know that this number is grossly exaggerated in many cases. The lifespan of CFL bulbs will also shorten if the light fixture is switched on and off too often. A bulb rated for 10,000 hours might last only 3,000 hours if it is switched on and off many times a day for a few minutes each time.

The answer: Switch to LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs. They’re more efficient, last longer, and don’t contain mercury like CFL bulbs do.

– Loose connection. When a bulb is loose in the socket, it can flicker on and off. Simply tighten the bulb in its socket to correct the problem. Another issue may be a loose wire connection where the circuit wires connect to the fixture. Turn off the power and check the wires to make sure they are securely attached to the screw terminals. The bulb socket itself can also have worn or corroded contacts that cause connection problems. In this case, replace the socket or the fixture.

Habitually loose connections, either at the socket or with the wire connections, can burn out the bulb quickly, as well as cause flickering. These loose connections increase the electrical resistance and the heat passing through the filament of the bulb, which can shorten its life.

– Short circuit. This is another instance where a light bulb that suddenly goes dark is not burned out at all. A short circuit in the wiring of the circuit can cause the light fixture—as well as all other devices on the circuit—to suddenly go dark. The official definition of a short circuit is a condition in which the electrical current flows outside the established wiring pathway. This situation causes resistance to lessen, which vastly increases the flow of current through the circuit. This sudden increase in current flow causes the circuit breaker to trip (or the fuse to blow) and stop the flow of current. The light bulb (and everything else) suddenly goes dark.

A short circuit can be caused by a number of circumstances. The fixture or appliance cord may have a wiring problem, a cord plug could be defective, or the light socket may be defective. In any of these cases, replace the defective parts before resetting the breaker or replacing a fuse.

Before assuming that a dark bulb is burned out, check to make sure that the circuit breaker hasn’t tripped due to a short circuit.