London & Greater London

Why Does My Fuse Box Keep Tripping?

A board that trips is doing its job. Something is leaking current to earth or drawing more than the circuit allows, and the protection is cutting the power before it becomes dangerous. Resetting it over and over is the one response that helps nobody, because the cause is still sitting there.

The most common culprits are a faulty appliance, a shower element that has started to leak to earth, water getting into an outside socket or light, and damaged cable where something has been screwed or nailed through a wall. Older boards make it worse by putting many circuits behind a single RCD, so a small fault in one place takes out half the house.

Try the appliance test

Unplug everything on the affected circuit, reset once, then plug items back one at a time. The one that trips it again is your suspect.

Weather is a clue

If it started after heavy rain, look at outside sockets, garden lighting and anything in a shed or garage before assuming the worst indoors.

Repeated resets are a warning

If it trips again within minutes, stop resetting and get it tested. Something is faulty, and forcing power back through it is how small faults become fires.

Your questions, answered

It only trips when I use the shower, why?

Usually a shower element leaking to earth as it heats. It is one of the most common causes, and testing confirms it quickly rather than replacing parts on a guess.

Would a new consumer unit stop it?

A modern board with individual RCBOs limits a fault to one circuit instead of half the house, which helps a lot. It does not remove the underlying fault though, so that still needs finding.

Is it safe to keep resetting it?

No. One reset to check is reasonable. If it trips again the protection is telling you there is a real fault, and it needs testing before the power goes back on for good.

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