What is Electrical Fault Finding?

Whether for home or business, any faults in your electrical system can put your property and its occupants at risk. They can be exposed to electric shocks and fires, so you must identify and rectify faults without delay.

Faults in the electrical supply are dangerous and must be resolved properly by a licensed professional; otherwise, they are likely to get worse. However, an unqualified individual can undertake fault finding and basic procedures such as changing light bulbs and resetting circuit breakers.

How to Identify and Isolate an Electrical Fault

Electricity flows through a closed circuit, which is created when an appliance is plugged in or a switch is turned on. Turning a switch off will open the circuit and prevent the flow of electricity. These are both parts of normal operation, but a short circuit, which occurs when electricity flows through an erroneous connection, is an electrical fault.

Your switchboard contains a number of circuit breakers, and these will trip off when a fault occurs, opening the circuit and preventing the flow of electricity, so harm is avoided. Problems are sometimes obvious, indicated by a smell of burning, a plug that feels hot or discolouration caused by heat. At other times, however, you may need to investigate further.

A fault will often cause an individual circuit breaker to trip, which will indicate the faulty circuit. Sometimes this does not happen, and the main switch is tripped instead, so that all power is off. You will then need to find the fault by:

  1. Turning off all the individual circuit breakers as well as the main switch.
  2. Turning the main switch back on to restore power, although all circuits are off, so no electricity will flow.
  3. Turn the individual circuit breakers back on in sequence.
  4. The faulty circuit will trip off again, while the others will remain on. This means you have restored power to the property except for the circuit where the problem exists, generally caused by a faulty appliance, damaged wiring or a loose connection.
  5. Contact an electrician to resolve the problem. Do not attempt this yourself because you may cause safety issues.

Preventing Future Electrical Faults

Electrical faults are often caused by bad connections, wiring that is closely packed or circuits that are overloaded with too many appliances. An electrician can resolve these issues and prevent future problems via thorough electrical fault finding.

You can also help to prevent faults by:

  • avoiding overloading circuits by not having too many appliances connected
  • ensuring energy-intensive equipment, such as air conditioning units, has a dedicated circuit
  • regularly checking wiring for damage
  • having your system tested and inspected frequently to ensure it is safe and everything is working correctly.

Domestic systems generally have the common problems of overloads, power surges and defective appliances, while businesses have increased power loads and cannot afford downtime due to electrical faults. We can help you avoid all that with regular inspections to identify possible faults and maintenance, including emergency call-outs, to fix any problems. Don’t take any risks, but get in touch with Florance Electrical to have your faults found and corrected.

What is Electrical Test and Tag?

Portable electric appliances can be subject to harsher treatment than fixed devices and may be used in many different environments. As a result, they are more prone to damage and deterioration in their performance, which can result in them becoming unsafe to use.

These potential dangers are overcome by a requirement to test and tag electrical equipment. The requirement varies between different types of equipment and the environments in which they are used.

Requirements for Electrical Testing and Tagging Services

Australian standard AS/NZS 3760:2022 applies to test n’ tag procedures, providing guidelines that define when, how and by whom testing is to be undertaken. It applies to any portable electrical appliance used in a workplace and covers those that have a voltage exceeding fifty volts, have a flexible cable and a removable plug. These appliances are either earthed or double-insulated.

New appliances do not need to be tested but must be inspected for damage before first use and have a tag affixed stating when the next test is due. The main need for testing applies to industries with harsh environments, such as mining, construction and demolition, where inspection and testing are required every three months.

Any equipment that is to be hired out must be visually inspected before each hire and tested every three months. For other industries, there is no legal requirement to test, but employers have a duty of care for their employees and electrical testing and tagging is recommended every six months, although a risk assessment may indicate a more frequent need. Accidents caused by equipment that is unsafe and has not been tested can result in legal action and severe penalties.

Details of all testing need to be recorded, and a tag that is durable, water-resistant, non-metallic and with a bright surface must be securely attached to each piece of equipment. These tags are colour-coded to identify the testing period, and each one shows the:

  • name of the person conducting the test
  • date of the test
  • test outcome
  • date when the next test is due.

Comprehensive Testing for Added Safety

All tests must be carried out by a competent person who has successfully completed a training course and is up to date with the latest requirements when it comes to electrical fault finding. Each electrical test and tag involves:

  • a visual inspection of the appliance, looking particularly for damage, defects, discolouration caused by excessive heat or moisture, that flexible cords are not damaged or loose, ventilation inlets and exhausts are not obstructed, the current rating is correct, and the insulation resistance and protective earth are adequate
  • checking that operating controls work properly
  • ensuring the appliance does not leak electric current, which will be a hazard
  • particularly checking the safety of equipment that uses extra-strong, three-phase electricity that can be especially hazardous.

The assessment of a device’s safety will be undertaken using testing equipment, which must be properly calibrated to provide accurate and reliable results.

To ensure all your portable appliances are compliant and safe to use, contact Florance Electrical to arrange a comprehensive safety inspection and test.

Faulty Pool Pump Tripping Power

Faulty Pool Pump Tripping Power

More TIps

Shock your friends with this post.

Troy from Florance Electrical here! 

Now today, we were called out to a property that has a tripped power circuit.

We have posted a handy guide on how to fault find and repair a tripping power circuit in a previous video which covers in-depth the fault finding guide to repairing the tripping circuit. In this guide, the issue was a toaster that was plugged into the kitchen power point but keep in mind that anything can be causing these faults and a process of elimination must be followed in order to narrow down the cause of the electrical fault. 

This handy and in depth electrical faulty finding guide can be found here: Repair a tripping safety switch.

We have also made a video guide here: Fix a tripping pool pump.

To show that the cause of a circuit to trip can be anything, we wanted to share this video that has a faulty pool pump that is plugged into an outdoor power point that was the cause of our client’s power circuit tripping issues. 

When following the blog text guide or video guides above it is important not to accidentally eliminate or forget about items throughout the property that are plugged into power points that are not always used and maybe forgotten.

Appliances such as: Dishwashers, pool equipment, range hoods, NBN boxes, irrigation boxes, gas appliance ignitors, washing machines and the list goes on. 

The two guides linked above explain in detail the manner that we would go through in a property to eliminate appliances before further testing for fixed cabling or circuit device faults. Often when attending properties faults are caused by appliances that are faulting in a dangerous manner that is causing the safety switch to trip and not be able to be reset as the device is operating correctly and disconnecting or tripping the circuit when a fault is detected. 

By following these guides you will be either to restore the power without the need for an electrician, or narrow down the fault saving your electrician time and therefore the costs of the job. Further to these guides, this video is a timely reminder to not forget appliances or power points that are not often used and maybe forgotten. 

In the Northern Territory and Darwin particularly, we often live in monsoonal rainy conditions. And, we all know that water and electricity do not mix due to the high conductivity of water. Following our guides and further conducting a visual inspection of your property before calling electrician will save you money. You may be able to find the faulty appliance such as Troy has found today – the pool pump and then call an electrician to repair the appliance and further test the circuit to ensure no further faults are present. This will save your electrician’s time and your hip pocket. 

Please keep in mind that we do not condone or advise any person who is not qualified to work on electrical circuits to ever try and repair an appliance once it has been identified as the cause of a tripping safety switch. Please call an electrician to verify and repair what has been identified through the process of elimination or visual inspection. 

Having a look inside the pool pump at this property which is faulty. The terminal block (cable connection) and capacitor can clearly be seen inside. With our tools and trade knowledge, we have tested the capacitor inside the pool pump and verified that the capacitor is not faulty which is generally the cause of pump failure. Completing a visual inspection it has become apparent to our electrician Troy that there has been moisture present underneath the electrical connection cover which has resulted in rust, water marks and calcium to be present inside the pool pump. 

Upon noting this and verifying that the capacitor for the pump tested ok, Troy has then completed further testing of the pump motor windings. The results of this testing has indicated that the windings have failed and are shorted together resulting in the circuit tripping. The motor windings of this pool pump are shorted to earth. Safety switches are designed to detect earth leakage (resistance from the active or neutral conductor to the earth conductor). As these windings have continuity (a circuit or connection) between the earthing conductor, the safety switch has operated and functioned well and disconnected the power supply before a dangerous situation has occurred. 

Now! Keep in mind, if your pool pump is identified as the cause of your power circuit safety switch tripping it does not necessarily mean that you need to purchase a new pool pump. Our skilled team are able to repair the majority of pool pumps and will always advise on the most economical option (whether repair or replacement of the pump is best). In most circumstances, we are able to repair pumps saving you further costs as this is generally more economical than replacement of the pump. 

Need help? Speak with our friendly team today!