The Six Steps To Finding (And Solving) An Electrical Fault

When it comes to electrical faults, some are obvious, but others need a more methodical approach. Here’s a handy checklist to get things moving in the right direction. 

Fault finding essentially means testing the operation of electrical equipment to determine if it is safe and working correctly, as defined in AS/NZS 3000:2018, Electrical installations – AKA the Wiring Rules. 

Top five electrical faults

In a domestic situation, the same problems tend to come up again and again. The top five electrical faults you’re likely to encounter on the job here in Australia are down to overcrowded junction boxes, exposed or old wiring, power surges, overloaded circuits and excessive loading on wiring. 

And while a business might use power differently from a home, the faults encountered are usually pretty similar. 

Then there are additional problems you’ll come across in the commercial sector, for example redundant wiring (depending on who and what was previously in the building) that hasn’t been properly terminated; or outages when the current circuits simply can’t cope with the energy requirements of the business. 

This is a fairly common problem where there are a lot of power-hungry devices, such as manufacturing machinery, fridges and freezers, or server rooms that need their own supply. 

The six steps to electrical fault-finding

‘Find the fault and fix it’ is the short answer to most electrical problems. The slightly longer version is to use the ‘six steps’ approach, to make sure you’re not missing a trick.

1. Collect the evidence: Get as much information as you can. Find out if there is a wiring diagram or other paperwork. Observe the system running, if safe to do so. Use all your senses: smell (burning), hearing (vibration), touch (temperature), sight (for unusual conditions).

2. Analyse the evidence: Consider and study all the evidence. Through careful, logical thinking, diagnose the likely fault, or at least the area of the fault.

3. Locate the fault: Home in on the area of fault until a specific part can be identified.

4. Determine and remove the cause: It’s not enough to rectify the fault – you need to identify the cause to make sure it won’t re-occur.

5. Rectify the fault: By now this should be a specific task based on earlier findings.

6. Check the system: Ensure the equipment or system is functioning normally after the fault has been dealt with, and the system can return to optimum working condition.