Half the power points in the house not working
A group of outlets across several rooms is dead together while lights and other GPOs work — points at one power circuit's protection or a shared upstream fault.
Safety first
Don't repeatedly reset a tripping device. Isolate and prove dead. A lost neutral on a power circuit can put odd voltages on equipment — treat as hazardous.
Isolate, lock out / tag out, and prove dead before working unless a live test is specifically required, authorised, and carried out under proper supervision. Always follow local regulations, your site procedures, and the equipment manufacturer's documentation.
Full detail — causes, the why, and common mistakes.
Likely causes
Ranked from most to least likely.
- 1
Power circuit breaker/RCBO tripped
Most likelyOne power circuit's protective device has tripped, killing all its outlets at once.
- 2
Faulty appliance/outlet tripping the circuit
#2A single faulty appliance or outlet on the circuit trips the protection.
- 3
Loose connection at a shared point
#3A loose active/neutral early in the run drops everything downstream.
- 4
Lost neutral on the circuit
Least likelyA neutral fault can disable a group of outlets and cause strange behaviour.
Reports are saved on this device to reflect what you actually find.
Testing sequence
Work through one test at a time. Expected reading and what each result means.
Check the switchboard for a tripped power-circuit breaker/RCBO.
Nothing tripped on the power circuits.
Not tripped — trace the shared run for a loose/neutral fault.
Tripped — find what trips it before resetting.
View all expected readings at once
Fault-finding flowchart
The same logic as a decision tree.
- 1start
Half the GPOs dead
→ step 2 - 2decision
Has a power-circuit device tripped?
Yes→ step 3No→ step 4 - 3decision
Does unplugging appliances let it reset and hold?
Yes→ step 5No→ step 6 - 4result
Not tripped — trace the shared connection/neutral.
- 5result
The appliance that re-trips it is faulty — remove/repair.
- 6result
Trips with all unplugged — fault in the fixed wiring.
Common mistakes apprentices make
- Resetting a tripping circuit repeatedly instead of finding the cause.
- Not isolating appliances to separate an appliance fault from wiring.
- Overlooking a loose neutral as the cause of a dead group.
- Assuming a main fault when it's one circuit.
When to stop & escalate
Fixed-wiring and neutral faults are licensed electrical work and must be repaired before re-energising. A repeatedly tripping circuit indicates a real fault to find, not a device to upsize.
If you're past your competence, authorisation, or the safe limits of the job — stop and hand it on. There's no fault worth getting hurt over.
Related faults
Power point (GPO) completely dead
Nothing plugged into a power point works, while other outlets are fine. A classic trace-it-back fault on a single GPO or the run feeding it.
Safety switch (RCD) keeps tripping at the switchboard
The safety switch trips repeatedly — instantly on reset, randomly, or when certain appliances run. It's detecting earth leakage somewhere; the job is to find where.
Lost or high-resistance neutral
Strange symptoms across a circuit or installation — voltages going high and low on different loads, flickering, equipment damage — pointing to a lost or high-resistance neutral.