Losing power, smelling burning or watching a safety switch trip over and over are the faults people ring me about most. Some of them are genuinely dangerous and some are simply inconvenient — the difficulty is that from the outside they can look identical.
This page explains how to tell the difference, what to do before anyone arrives, and how I go about finding and fixing an urgent electrical fault. I'm a licensed electrician working on my own, so when you ring you speak to the person who will actually do the work. My hours are Monday to Saturday, 7am–6pm; if something is urgent, call and I'll tell you honestly when I can get to you rather than promise a time I can't keep.
Signs worth acting on rather than waiting out.
Stop using the circuit and switch it off at the switchboard. A burning smell around a power point, switch or the board itself usually means heat is being generated by a loose or failing connection, which is one of the more common causes of electrical fires.
Switch off at the main switch if you can do it safely and call an electrician. Buzzing or crackling from a board is not normal.
The safety switch is doing its job — something on that circuit is leaking current to earth. Repeatedly forcing it back on defeats the protection.
Accessories should never feel warm. Warmth means resistance where there should be none.
Treat this as urgent. It can indicate a lost neutral or an earthing fault, both of which are dangerous.
Keep clear of it, especially where water is involved, and get it assessed before turning anything back on.
A few questions usually narrow the cause down a long way, and sometimes I can tell you how to make it safe yourself. If it is something you should not touch, I will say so.
The first job on site is isolating whatever is dangerous. Getting your power back comes second to making sure nothing can hurt anyone.
Testing rather than guessing — dividing the installation down until the fault is located. See fault finding for how that works in detail.
You get told what is wrong, what it will take and what it costs before I begin the repair.
The repair is tested before I leave, and where the work requires it you receive a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work (CCEW).
All work is carried out to AS/NZS 3000, the Australian and New Zealand Wiring Rules, by a licensed electrician (Licence No. 221442C, ABN 44 819 766 079) and is covered by public liability insurance. Where the work is of a kind that requires it, you are issued a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work. Electrical work in NSW must be done by a licensed person — that is not a formality, it is the thing that makes the work insurable and the certificate valid.
Every job is quoted after I have seen it — these are the things that move the number:
Switch that circuit off at the switchboard and stop using it. If you cannot identify the circuit, turn off the main switch. Do not keep using it and wait to see if the smell goes away — a burning smell is heat, and heat in an electrical accessory means something is failing.
No. The safety switch is detecting current leaking to earth and disconnecting to protect people from a shock. Forcing it back on removes that protection while leaving the fault in place. A safety switch that trips repeatedly needs the underlying fault found.
I give you a price before I start work, so there are no surprises. What I will not do is quote a repair over the phone without knowing what is actually wrong.
My normal hours are Monday to Saturday, 7am–6pm. For urgent faults outside those hours, call and I'll tell you what I can do — I would rather be straight with you about timing than promise a window I cannot meet.
Yes. Where the work requires it under NSW rules you receive a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work, which is what your insurer or a future buyer's inspector will want to see.
Based in Kellyville and working right across Sydney. These are the areas I am in most often.
Emergency Electrician in Kellyville, NSW
Emergency Electrician in Rouse Hill, NSW
Emergency Electrician in Castle Hill, NSW
Emergency Electrician in Baulkham Hills, NSW
Emergency Electrician in Bella Vista, NSW
Emergency Electrician in Norwest, NSW
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Emergency Electrician in Blacktown, NSW
Tell me what you need and I'll come back to you with honest advice and an upfront price. No obligation, no pressure.