--- title: "Inverter keeps tripping or overloading: common causes" description: Why your solar inverter keeps tripping or showing an overload, the checks you can safely do yourself, and when it's time to get it looked at. image: https://cleanvolts.co.za/hubfs/CleanVolts%20Inverter%20keeps%20tripping%20or%20overloading.png --- [Skip to content](https://cleanvolts.co.za/guides/inverter-keeps-tripping#main-content) [![CleanVolts](https://cleanvolts.co.za/hs-fs/hubfs/clean%20volts%20logo-2.png?width=1200&height=336&name=clean%20volts%20logo-2.png)Homepage](https://cleanvolts.co.za/) - Services - [Solar Health Check](https://cleanvolts.co.za/health-check) - [The Audit](https://cleanvolts.co.za/audit) - [Remediation](https://cleanvolts.co.za/remediation) - [Monitoring](https://cleanvolts.co.za/monitoring) - [Service Plans](https://cleanvolts.co.za/service-plans) - [Solar Panel Cleaning](https://cleanvolts.co.za/solar-panel-cleaning) - [Tariff Re-Optimisation](https://cleanvolts.co.za/tariff-optimisation) - [Planning a new solar system?](https://cleanvolts.co.za/new-installations) - [Guides](https://cleanvolts.co.za/guides) - [Checklist](https://cleanvolts.co.za/checklist) - About - [About CleanVolts](https://cleanvolts.co.za/about) - [The Electricians We Work With](https://cleanvolts.co.za/electrical-partners) - [FAQ](https://cleanvolts.co.za/faq) - For Partners - [Estate Agents & Conveyancers](https://cleanvolts.co.za/estate-agents) - [Insurance Brokers](https://cleanvolts.co.za/insurance-brokers) [Contact](https://cleanvolts.co.za/contact) - Services - [Solar Health Check](https://cleanvolts.co.za/health-check) - [The Audit](https://cleanvolts.co.za/audit) - [Remediation](https://cleanvolts.co.za/remediation) - [Monitoring](https://cleanvolts.co.za/monitoring) - [Service Plans](https://cleanvolts.co.za/service-plans) - [Solar Panel Cleaning](https://cleanvolts.co.za/solar-panel-cleaning) - [Tariff Re-Optimisation](https://cleanvolts.co.za/tariff-optimisation) - [Planning a new solar system?](https://cleanvolts.co.za/new-installations) - [Guides](https://cleanvolts.co.za/guides) - [Checklist](https://cleanvolts.co.za/checklist) - About - [About CleanVolts](https://cleanvolts.co.za/about) - [The Electricians We Work With](https://cleanvolts.co.za/electrical-partners) - [FAQ](https://cleanvolts.co.za/faq) - For Partners - [Estate Agents & Conveyancers](https://cleanvolts.co.za/estate-agents) - [Insurance Brokers](https://cleanvolts.co.za/insurance-brokers) [Contact](https://cleanvolts.co.za/contact) ![CleanVolts Inverter keeps tripping or overloading](https://cleanvolts.co.za/hs-fs/hubfs/CleanVolts%20Inverter%20keeps%20tripping%20or%20overloading.png?width=1920&height=1080&name=CleanVolts%20Inverter%20keeps%20tripping%20or%20overloading.png) # Inverter keeps tripping or overloading: common causes ![Tony Lopes](https://cleanvolts.co.za/hs-fs/hubfs/clean%20volts%20launch%20post.png?width=48&height=48&name=clean%20volts%20launch%20post.png) Tony Lopes October 5, 2026 Your inverter shuts off with an overload alarm. The lights go out for a moment, or the kettle cuts out halfway through boiling. Maybe it happens once a week, maybe every afternoon. An inverter that keeps tripping is telling you something. Usually it's something simple, like too much running at once. Sometimes it's a sign of a fault. Here's how to tell the difference. ## **Safety First** - **Don't open the inverter, the battery or the DB board.** - **Don't keep resetting it.** If it trips again straight after a reset, leave it off and get help. - **If you smell burning, see scorch marks or the inverter feels very hot to stand near, stop.** Switch nothing back on and call someone. ## **First, Work Out What's Actually Tripping** "It keeps tripping" can mean several different things, and each points to a different cause: - **The inverter shows an overload alarm and shuts down or restarts.** Usually too much load. See causes 1 to 3. - **The inverter shuts down when the battery is low, or the battery cuts out.** Usually a battery issue. See cause 4. - **It trips on hot afternoons.** Possibly heat. See cause 5. - **A breaker or the earth leakage switch in your DB board trips.** This needs an electrician. See cause 6. Open your inverter's app or display and look at the alarm or fault code it recorded. That one piece of information narrows things down more than anything else. ## **The Common Causes** ### **1. Too Much Running at Once** Every inverter has a maximum it can supply continuously. Go over it and it protects itself by shutting down. Heat-making appliances are the biggest culprits: geysers, kettles, ovens, heaters, hairdryers and tumble dryers. Two or three of them at once can push a household inverter over its limit on their own. ### **2. Start-Up Surges** Anything with a motor or compressor, such as a fridge, freezer, pool pump, borehole pump or air conditioner, draws far more power for a moment when it starts than when it's running. That surge can be two to three times the running power. A quick way to estimate it: find the appliance's rated current on its label, multiply by 230 volts to get the running power, then multiply by three for the start-up surge. A fridge rated at 1.5 amps runs at about 345 watts, but can need around 1,000 watts for a moment to start. If the trips happen just as a pump or compressor kicks in, this is very likely the cause. ### **3. A System Sized for a Different Job** Many systems installed during load shedding were sized to keep the essentials running: lights, Wi-Fi, the TV and the fridge. Now that load shedding has ended, a lot of owners are [load shifting](https://cleanvolts.co.za/guides/solar-load-shifting): running the geyser, pool pump and washing during the day to use their solar. That's a good idea, but it can mean asking an inverter to carry far more than it was ever designed for, often all in the same few hours. If the trips started after you changed how you use power, this is probably why. ### **4. The Battery Can't Keep Up** Batteries have their own limits on how much power they can deliver at once, and those limits drop as the battery ages or gets low. A battery that's losing capacity can cut out under a load it used to handle easily. If the trips happen mostly in the evening or early morning, when the battery is doing the work, look at its state of charge when it happens. Our guide to [battery lifespan and replacement cost](https://cleanvolts.co.za/guides/battery-lifespan-replacement-cost) explains what to look for. ### **5. Heat** Inverters reduce their output or shut down to protect themselves when they get too hot. An inverter boxed into a cupboard, mounted in direct sun or in a garage that bakes in summer will trip more on hot afternoons. Check that it has the space around it the manufacturer specifies. Check 4 in our guide to [whether your solar was installed properly](https://cleanvolts.co.za/guides/was-my-solar-installed-properly) covers what to look for. ### **6. An Electrical Fault** If the earth leakage switch or a breaker in your DB board trips, or the inverter trips even with very little running, the cause may be a fault: moisture getting into connections, damaged cable insulation, a loose connection or a faulty appliance. These aren't things to troubleshoot yourself. ### **7. Settings** Inverter settings control things like how much power is drawn from the battery and the grid, and when. Systems set up for load shedding are often still running settings that don't suit how the house uses power now. Wrong settings won't usually cause a dangerous fault, but they can cause nuisance trips and waste your solar. ## **What You Can Do Yourself** - **Keep a short log.** Each time it trips, note the time, what was running and the alarm the app shows. A week of notes usually reveals the pattern. - **Stagger the heavy loads.** Don't run the geyser, kettle and pool pump at the same moment. Timers on the geyser and pool pump make this easy. - **Check what's on the backed-up circuits.** If heavy appliances are wired to the inverter that don't need to be, an electrician can often move them off. - **Check the ventilation.** Clear anything stored around the inverter. ## **When to Call Someone** - The earth leakage switch or a DB breaker keeps tripping - The inverter trips with only light loads running - It trips again immediately after a reset - The battery cuts out well before it should be empty - You see, smell or hear anything unusual - Your log doesn't show an obvious pattern ## **How It Usually Gets Fixed** Most tripping problems are fixed with one or more of these: - Changing the inverter and battery settings to suit how you use power now - Moving heavy appliances off the backed-up circuits, or onto timers - Repairing a fault or loose connection - Replacing an ageing battery - Adding inverter or battery capacity, if the system really is too small for how you want to use it Upgrading is the last option, not the first. It's worth ruling out the cheaper fixes before spending money on bigger equipment. ## **Where We Fit In** A Solar Health Check looks at your system's alarm history, settings, battery health and installation, and tells you why it's tripping and what it will take to fix. Where we find work that needs doing, a registered electrical contractor you contract directly does it and issues the CoC in their own name. We [scope it, coordinate it and check it's done](https://cleanvolts.co.za/remediation). We work across Blairgowrie, Linden, Randburg, Ferndale, Northcliff, Fairland, Emmarentia, Greenside, Parkhurst and the suburbs around them. [**Book a Health Check**](https://cleanvolts.co.za/book-an-audit), or start with our free checklist, "[Is your solar system legal and safe?](https://cleanvolts.co.za/checklist)". ## Share this post [mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fcleanvolts.co.za%2Fguides%2Finverter-keeps-tripping](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fcleanvolts.co.za%2Fguides%2Finverter-keeps-tripping) ## Keep reading ### [![CleanVolts No CoC for your solar system](https://cleanvolts.co.za/hs-fs/hubfs/CleanVolts%20No%20CoC%20for%20your%20solar%20system.png?width=1920&height=1080&name=CleanVolts%20No%20CoC%20for%20your%20solar%20system.png) No CoC for your solar system: what it means and how to fix it](https://cleanvolts.co.za/guides/no-coc-for-solar) ### [![CleanVolts My solar installer has gone out of business](https://cleanvolts.co.za/hs-fs/hubfs/CleanVolts%20My%20solar%20installer%20has%20gone%20out%20of%20business.png?width=1920&height=1080&name=CleanVolts%20My%20solar%20installer%20has%20gone%20out%20of%20business.png) My installer has gone out of business. 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