Resetting a trip switch

This advice only applies to modern consumer units. If you have an older ‘fuse board’ type with rewirable fuses or cartridges, do not touch it and contact us immediately.

• Make sure your hands are dry when you touch electrical fittings.
• Modern electric circuits are fitted with circuit breakers called trip switches. If a fault develops, a switch is tripped and the circuit is broken. You will find all of the trip switches (or fuses) in the consumer unit. Some consumer units have buttons rather than switches. The consumer unit may be near your front or back door, or next to the electricity meter.
• If an electrical appliances is faulty, leave it unplugged and get a qualified electrician or service engineer to check it.

A trip switch or button usually operates because:

• too many appliances (overloaded)
• faulty or misused appliance, such as a kettle has been over-filled, a toaster not cleaned or an iron is broken
• water has leaked into a circuit or spills onto a plug
• a light bulb has blown
• an immersion heater is faulty

What to do:

• open the cover on the consumer unit to expose the trip switches/buttons
• check which switches/buttons have tripped to the OFF position and which rooms have been affected
• put these switches/buttons back to the ON position.

If the trip goes again. It is probably being caused by a faulty appliance or light.

• check all the rooms and note which set of lights or sockets is not working
• unplug all appliances on that circuit, and switch off the immersion heater
• switch the ‘tripped’ switch to ON
• plug in the appliances or switch on each light one at a time until the trip goes again. Do not use adaptors when testing
  appliances.