Electronic circuits with semiconductor and IC are very weak against the surge voltage and currents. The surge protective devices for electronic circuit and AC power lines are becoming more widely used. It is possible to give rise to the malfunction of the earth leakage circuit breaker(ELB) due to the operation of surge protective devices, and the interruption of AC power lines on account of the malfunction of the ELB brings about several disadvantages such as low operation efficiency and reliability of electronic and informational systems, economical loss, and etc. The aim of the present work is to investigate the dead operation characteristics of the ELB against the surge voltages. The impulse generator of 10[kV) in an 1.2/ 50[~) voltage waveform was fabricated. The dead operation characteristics of the ELB applied by surge voltages were measured under the conditions of KS C 4613 and the test circuit with a varistor. As a consequence, the peak value of the zero-phase sequence circuit of the ELB is increased as the surge voltage and stray capacitance increase. All of the ELBs used in this work were satisfied with the lightning impulse dead operation test condition defined in KS C 4613. However one specimen only did not bring about dead operation in the condition of the test circuit with a varistor. There is high possibility that a large portion of the ELB installed at the AC power lines with the surge protective devices bring about the dead operation.