How To Reset A Safety Switch
What is a safety switch?
Before i get into how to reset a safety switch i will quickly explain what a safety switch is and what their function is. See photo below for a picture of a standard safety switch.
Safety switch meaning
A safety switch also known as a residual current device (RCD) is a device installed by an electrician that will shut off the power to a circuit or circuits when an electrical imbalance is detected. An electrical imbalance refers to when there is either more or less current running through the circuit on the active as there is on the neutral (the circuit has either gained or lost power somewhere).
The function of a safety switch
The function of a safety switch is to shut off power when a fault occurs caused by the loss or gain of power on a given circuit (eg. a cable has come loose inside an appliance and is now touching the metal frame). The most common threshold for tripping is +-30milliAmperes or 30mA. I will also note that a lot of people, electricians included, believe that a safety switch by itself will also trip from overload. This is simply not true, the only reason a safety switch will trip is because of an electrical imbalance.
How to reset a safety switch
As an electrician there is a few things i would do before all of these steps however I'm writing this as a guide for people who aren't electricians so it will be somewhat incomplete in terms of a proper electrical diagnosis. However these are the steps i would generally tell a customer to take if I'm not able to attend straight away.
Locate the tripped safety switch
Find where your switchboard is located, generally speaking for domestic properties the switchboard is in the same place as the electrical meter. Outside, on the road facing side of the building is a good place to start. If it is the safety switch that has tripped you will know because it will have a small coloured "test button" on it. If it is a circuit breaker that has tripped (any of the switches without a test button), the problem is generally worse so you should call an electrician. Contact us
Attempt to reset the safety switch (once only)
Once you have located the safety switch that is causing the power outage (it's tab will be pointing at the ground and all the other circuits will be pointing at the sky) attempt to reset the safety switch by pushing the tab back up like the other switches. If it stays up, it could have just been what is called nuisance tripping and you are fine to go on with your day.
safety switch won't reset
If you tried to reset the safety switch once and it won't reset then you need to turn off all the other switches except for the main switch (usually the one on the far right labelled "Main Switch" or "Main Switch light and power" but this board is older and didn't have one installed), then reset the safety switch by itself. In this case 95% of safety switches will reset, the only reason they wont is if the safety switch itself is faulty or overheated. In this case get in contact with an electrician to help you out. Contact us
isolating the circuit responsible
If you are successful in resetting the safety switch, you can then start turning on circuits one at a time and see what circuit when energised causes the safety switch to trip. If this process works you should be left with one circuit breaker left off and all the other circuit breakers and safety switches turned on.
Locate the function of the circuit
If your switchboard is labeled properly the circuit that has remained down after this process should have a label on or above it. This will guide us to the problem. Generally there are 3 main categories of circuits in a house: lights, power or dedicated feeds eg. oven, Air conditioner, hot water, etc.
If it is a problem with a dedicated feed or a light circuit, this is where you will need to call an Electrician to help you out in diagnosing and replacing the faulty appliance or light fitting.
Locating a faulty appliance
If the problem is a faulty power circuit, there is more we can do. Generally labeled "power" or "protected Power" power circuits are a string of power points all joined together. About 95% of these problems are a faulty appliance and not the house wiring itself. What you need to do is find which power points are NOT working due to the circuit breaker being turned off and unplug them not just switch them off at the powerpoint.
Be as thorough as possible, even well trained electricians will over look a sewage pump or a range hood from time to time. Once you have unplugged all the appliances that are plugged into that circuit, attempt to turn the safety switch back on (once only) if it trips again, return to the circuit and look for a hidden appliance somewhere that is still plugged in.
If your sure that all appliances are unplugged and the safety switch is still tripping when you turn the individual circuit back on, time to call an electrician.
If it works however and you can turn all the breakers back on in your switchboard. That means you have successfully isolated the offending appliance. It is now just a matter of plugging everything back in one by one and waiting for the safety switch to trip.
HOW TO RESET safety switch end notes
In most cases when a safety switch is tripping, it is simply a faulty electrical appliance causing the fault. In these cases it is more than likely the home owner can find and fix the problem themselves using this system.
However for the more technical fault finds you can call us at Roost electrical and we would be more than happy to help you out.
