Electrical fault finding, Vanderbijlpark and the Vaal.

What it usually is. Five suspects. Several appliances each leaking a little, adding up past 30 mA. Water where it shouldn't be after rain — pool pump, lapa, gate motor, outside plugs. One faulty appliance, often a kettle, iron, dishwasher or geyser element. An earth leakage unit that has simply aged. Or a real fault in the fixed wiring, sometimes in the roof.

Do this now. Switch everything off at the wall plugs. Reset the earth leakage once. Then switch appliances back on one at a time and write down which one drops it. Note whether it trips instantly or after a few minutes — that tells me a lot.

Don't. Don't tape the switch up. Don't leave the earth leakage off "just for tonight". Don't reset it twenty times in a row.

What I do. I ramp-test the unit to confirm it actually trips at 30 mA and how fast. Then I isolate circuits one at a time and measure insulation resistance until the leak shows itself. Then I fix that — not everything near it.

What it usually is. A tripped or failed circuit breaker. A loose or burnt neutral at the board or in a junction box. A cooked connection behind a plug where somebody ran an extension years ago. Sometimes it is the supply side, not you.

Do this now. Look outside first — streetlights and neighbours dark too? Then it is the supply, not your house. If it is only you, open the board cover and see which switch has moved. Reset it once, gently.

Don't. Don't force a breaker that will not stay up. Don't start pulling wires out of the board. Don't call it a "power failure" until you have looked at the neighbours.

What I do. I check the supply at your main switch first, so you are not paying me for the municipality's fault. Then I track the dead section by measurement — board, neutral bar, junctions — and repair or replace the connection that failed.

What it usually is. A loose connection heating up under load. An overloaded or worn breaker. A busbar arcing inside the board. This is the fault that becomes a house fire, and it does it at night in winter when everything is switched on.

Do this now. Switch the main switch off. Then phone me — don't type, phone. If there is smoke, sparking or flame, get everyone out and phone the fire brigade on 016 430 1816.

Don't. Don't throw water at it. Don't open the board yourself. Don't decide it can wait until the weekend because it has "been like that a while".

What I do. This is the one I drop other work for, and I will tell you on the phone when I can be there. I isolate the supply, lock it and tag it before the cover comes off — the way I did on plant. Then I find what has cooked, and I show you the photo. Small jobs are a connection or a breaker. Bad ones mean a new board.

What it usually is. One room flickering is usually a loose connection or a tired switch. The whole house dimming when the geyser, pool pump or borehole starts can be normal — or it can be a loose neutral, which is the one that quietly kills appliances. New LED globes on an old dimmer flicker for their own reasons.

Do this now. Write down whether it is one room or the whole house, and whether it happens when something big switches on. Look at the neighbours' lights during the same minute if you can.

Don't. Don't keep buying globes. Don't ignore whole-house flicker — a loose neutral can put too much voltage on half your circuits and cook your electronics.

What I do. I measure the voltage under load, check the board and the neutral connections, and check the supply side. If it is the municipality's cable I tell you, and I give you the number to phone.

What it usually is. A branch or wet creeper touching the wires. Water in the energiser box or in its mains supply after a storm. A failing energiser. Or isolators and tensioners at the end of their life — they don't last forever, and a whole row of tired ones causes trips at three in the morning.

Do this now. Switch the fence energiser off at its isolator, then reset the earth leakage. If the house now stays on, the problem is on the fence side. Walk the fence line in daylight and look for vegetation touching the wires.

Don't. Don't grab the fence wires to test them. Don't leave the earth leakage switched off so the fence can stay on — that unit is protecting your whole house.

What I do. I split the two sides. The mains supply to the energiser is electrical work and I fix that. The fence system itself has its own separate certificate with its own inspection, and if you need that, it gets sorted out too.

What it usually is. The power does not come back gently. When the supply comes back on, the restoration spike is what kills TVs, decoders, routers, fridge control boards and gate motors. Low voltage before an outage does its own damage to motors.

Do this now. During an outage, unplug the sensitive things at the wall. When the power returns, wait a few minutes before plugging back in, and check your board before you assume the appliance is dead.

Don't. Don't assume your insurer will simply pay. Since 2023 most South African insurers exclude damage from the interruption or restoration of supply, and carve out only scheduled, phased load shedding, which an unplanned outage is not.

What I do. I check your board and your earthing, then I fit surge protection at the DB myself, where it belongs, with plug-level protection on the expensive items. Only about one in five insured households has any surge protection at all.

What it usually is. An element leaking to earth. Elements last three to five years in Vaal water, and a leaking one trips the earth leakage every time it heats. Also common: a failed thermostat, water in the isolator box, or a breaker that is the wrong size for the element.

Do this now. Switch the geyser off at its isolator — usually a switch on the wall or in the roof — then reset the board once. If everything stays on with the geyser off, you have found your circuit.

Don't. Don't bypass the thermostat to stop it tripping. Don't keep resetting a board that trips the moment the geyser heats. And don't ignore popping or crackling noises from the tank.

What I do. I test the element resistance and its insulation, check the thermostat, the isolator, the bonding and the breaker size, then replace what has actually failed. A burst or leaking tank is a plumber's job, and I will say so.