In order to solve the problem that arrester is easily damaged and difficult to be operated and maintained by workers,a new fault detection and automatic switching method of arrester in power supply system is proposed for the first time.The method uses the fast Fourier transform to detect the current in real time,and the microcontroller to analyze the data and send out the control signal to realize the online detection of arrester fault.Through the design of automatic switching arrester mechanical structure,the spare arrester can be automatically switched one by one.The prototype of the system is developed and the test analysis is carried out.The test results show that the function of the system is feasible and effective,and it can realize the fault detection and automatic switching of arrester.