AFCI Nuisance Tripping and Trouble Shooting
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- Опубликовано: 16 сен 2024
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I recently finished a new construction residence using the combo breakers and had both lighting circuits tripping, finally figured out that in 2 locations I had 3 ways with the lighting load on the wrong neutral.... a few hours of sweaty fun!
Great coach he is to the fullest clear on his videos and for us to understand.
I’ve replaced lots and lots of CH Eaton breakers AFCI and combination. They are garbage, even the manufacturer had a recall on them
I do agree, they are garbage. Keep fighting the good fight brotha!
Nice instructive video. Shared connected neutrals across two circuits in a light switch is a very common issue. Without going deep dive into the science of plasma physics and electromagnetic field displacement and irregular transient waveforms it’s actual quite complex when you have to design these things. I like the dual (actually triple protection breakers - AFCI/GFCI and overcurrent protection) levitons, Hubbell, Legrand then Eaton and Schneider work well in that order of quality in my own view. I really do like Leviton smartrip dual AFCI/GFCI receptacles they can be a cheaper way to get protection and 2020 code compliant for branch circuits. That being said even the best and modern can trip every now and then that has to do with shielding and power electronic components in many pieces of equipment - microwaves and coffee machines are notorious for causing trips on AFCI or GFCI protected circuits. Replacing with more modern GFCI or AFCI receptacles in a kitchen circuit often resolves the problem. However that being said poor electrical circuit design in devices and leakage from them can create problems including transients in voltage and current that can mimic arc signature or ground leakage it’s just they happen much less frequent. That’s a power quality issue.
Yes, this has happened to me several times when an apprentice left the bare ground too long and folded it in such a way that it hit the neutral terminal. Tripped everytime.
I work in the solar field in Massachusetts as a licensed journeyman electrician. I’m in the service department ( not installing solar panels on the roof ) . Here in Massachusetts we get lucky and have the Mass amendments and rule #3 states that as long as we do not make a violation worse we do not have to fix it . This allows me to get away with not installing AFCI breakers in the panel after changing it out most of the time . Although we all know that AHJ has all the day in the end anyways . But In my experience any old home with old wiring is a nightmare for AFCI breakers . Only time my hand is forced to swap out standard breakers for AFCI breakers is if I end up extending the circuit because of a panel relocation and the circuit will no longer reach the new panel location . In this situation if the circuit is being extended greater than 6 feet , than I have no choice . Anyways Thankyou for your content ! I passed my exam just about exactly 1 year ago in the middle of June 2021 AND I HAVE YOU TO THANK FOR HELPING ME ALONG IN MY JOURNEY 🤙🏻☺️. Your test prep courses helped me tremendously. I love this channel and I will forever support you. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou for everything you do !
Your friend ,
Chris Schwab aka Good Ol’ Sparky
Let's go!
Solid info thank you. Replace the breaker if all else fails, not a the beginning 💯 We have had major problems with Siemens ARC fault breakers, and good success with SQD. The InteliArc tool by Siemens has helped us show the customer that their equipment is causing the ARC fault, this has saved a lot of time.
Sqd or eaton, 99% of the times works great
My electrician said the InteliArc tool was unavailable still. 😡
Great tip!
Great advice! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom
Glad it was helpful!
Informative video, I've performed a lot of the diag that you recommended , however I have a situation that when I run my dishwasher on a dedicated breaker one of the various 4 AFCI breaker trips. We have confirmed wiring and I reached out to Siemens and worked with them and they are sending me new redesigned breakers which are better programed, Hopping this works.!!!
Missing the sign wave. New studio. Things will improve.
Best Wishes coach. Clear concise information.
I know you said breaker is the last thing you check but in my history (just a home owner), the breaker has been the issue EVERYTIME when dealing with these AFCI breakers. In our rental house, we had to get at least 4 of them replaced, but I believe that house was built in 2008. Now we are in our new house, built 2021. Microwave breaker starting tripping. I just switched the wires between microwave breaker and the kitchen lights breaker. Ran microwave, no more tripping. So I dunno, these breakers still seem to be crap to me. At least Eaton brand.
Awesome video Master Coach. Kudos on the new studio . God bless
Let's go!!! Thank you for all your support!!
do check for overheating breakers, and manufacturer recalls
Can you say that part about it almost never being the breaker a little louder for the folks in the back? It seems like replacing the breaker is the default for "less thorough" installers and builders, which leads to return visits and frustrated home owners. Good stuff.
Love your videos , I was wondering have you ran into nuisance tripping on the dryers now that we have to install Gfci breakers on them?
Just about everything you need to know when it comes to AFCI trip
Let's go!!
Dude,you are a great motivator and spectacular teacher. You should probably set up a curriculum for electricians and sell it to a school. $$$$ bro. Love the videos.
Let's go!!
Ok here one for ya Ive been an electrician for over 40 yrs mostly residential some commercial...
I have installed over the past year - year and a half 1800-2000 Arc/ Duals. I have had 1-2 issues and yes usually it was the breaker. changed it and no more issues
Now in 1 house, I am having an issue 6 breakers tripping once in a while.. when I show up I turn everything in the house on I mean everything to try and get the breakers to trip and they wont I know they are stripped and stapled correctly , they are on a 2x6 walls so 99.9999% chance its not a screw especially on every circuit ,, and the crazy thing is they are ALL tripping just on B phase.. and breakers are flashing code 5..... They are dual function - The frig - washer - microwave- Sink Disp- etc all all home runs only and they trip and they might hold for a week or 2 then all trip all at once / or all in the same time period and its just a part time rental so its doing it when no one is home and not being used . I say its ghost and need Scooby doo - what say you ?
I’d guess you have a problem with the utility. Bad connection back to the transformer.
Sorry I just now saw this, does sound like something to do with the transformer or utility connections
Could also be the main breaker, or check the bonding bar in between both neutral bars
@@ElectricalCodeCoach we checked EVERYTHING every screw / lug all the way back to the meter bank alls good . Its been 2 weeks now and hasnt done it again . Im sticking with Ghost
Thanks
If you suspect a short, maybe disconnect the loads and do a continuity check of that circuit between hot and neutral, hot and ground, and just neutral and ground?
If it's intermittent, maybe use an insulation tester?
Thank you Coach! Houston Texas
H-town!!
Good video my man, trying to tell homeowners this is sometimes impossible lol..they don't understand it
💯
TL; Dr: Fridges in apartment complex keep nuisance tripping. is this common?
Great video, Coach! tons of useful information. However, i am experiencing an issue that didn't seem to be covered.
I work in apartment maintenance. I'm not an electrician by trade, but i can perform work safely and to code. The issue is we have exclusively our fridges dedicated circuits are nuisance tripping. this has happened ~25 times out of ~200 apartments in
What code cycle was this wired in? Email me at electricalcodecoach@gmail.com I'll help you dial this in
Share with us the details, and more people may be able to help.
The exact model of the fridge.
The exact model of breaker.
The exact wiring scheme.
Any other receps, devices in the circuit.
Diagnostic blink code given by the breaker.
Most of our problems stem from home owners installing the home automation devices and those receptacles with the night lights built into them. Sometimes it's just the ground touching the neutral but a few times it's been junk devices that these people have to have. It's not just frustrating but a huge pita trying to find out exactly which device is pissing off the AFI.
That's odd, are you saying that they don't have you Bond the concrete?
You seen this video?
ruclips.net/video/ETHAi3hS0pk/видео.html
@@ElectricalCodeCoach I'm sorry but I don't see the correlation between junk devices installed by homeowners and bonding a pool?
lol I was* responding to another comment about pool bonding
It’s those metal staples that hold the Romex to the wood stud….. make sure they are extra tight…. Make sure to hit those staples at least 5 times with your hammer
Hi. We have an AFCI breaker that has been tripping randomly. It would go days or weeks fine, then trip. I switched it with the breaker from another room. It went a week or so, then tripped wired to the other room. This seems to me like a clear indication that the (or at least an) issue is with the breaker itself, right? Or am I missing something? BTW, these are 20A Eaton AFCI breakers, original to the house (around 2011).
I picked up a dual Siemens afci breaker and doesn’t require you to land the neutral to the breaker itself. Also, State Farm gave me a device that monitors the home and it’s called “Ting”. Perhaps this may be a simple solution to detect arc faults rather than tripping a circuit.
You have to keep me in the loop about that brother pretty cool
GE AFCI/GFCI breakers are the worst
That’s me in the thumbnail when I’m trying to figure out a single pole switch
Lmbo love it
Plug on Neutral, Done
Very informative video, thanks coach.
We had one of the newer playstations trip an AFCI. We ran a dedicated circuit to it to get it to stop.
I had a loose connection on the breaker screw terminal causing the washer circuit to trip. It wasn’t super loose just enough to cause random tripping.
Just found your channel. I subscribed, and thumbs up.
I have a client whose Keurig keeps tripping the breaker. I have already checked the circuit, replaced the AFCI breaker and the outlet and recommended they replace the appliance but they refused. I may return and test the amp draw of the unit because they are still calling
I just watched another video on youtube about this. It's a problem with the coffee maker. ruclips.net/video/QUx2U_uPjHc/видео.html
I pulled out all my Arc faults and replaced them with normal breakers that actually function properly. Done.
Great vid. Thanks!
Great advice
No one seems to have made a post about an issue I am searching out to fix, so here is the problem and I hope you have an answer for me. I test a GFCI by the test button and it trips just fine. I reset it and it is fine. I place a GFCI tester into the GFCI and the lights show corrected connections. I press the black trip button on my GFCI tester and instead of it tripping, I get an open ground light and it does not trip. That is the first thing that made me make the Scooby-Doo sound "wrought-rooooww". What could be causing that to happen? I started to think it may be a bad GFCI device, but the homeowner just had them replaced. Not that it couldn't be the issue but it is most likely not when another totally separate GFCI circuit with a duplex outlet as a load in the same kitchen does the same thing. I can plug my tester into the duplex receptacle and press the test button and it will trip the GFCI, but plug the tester into the GFCI itself and press the test button on the tester..... it will not trip the GFCI, however, the GFCI test button works if I press it! Something strange going on there. In the bathroom the GFCI in there was wired to turn on when the switch turns on the O/H light, exhaust fan, and the GFCI outlet power. Very weird. That one does not if you push the GFCI test button, but shows it is wired correctly when plugging in the tester. If I push the tester test button, it shows that it has a hot / net reversed. I took it apart and the wiring was correct, not reversed. What the HECK??? I am confused as to what the heck is going on. Can you help me figure this mess out? I am going back to that house to try to resolve this problem out, and it wouldn't take me long if I had an idea of what was going on, or what I need to check/test to fix it all. I was thinking an open ground wire but the tester shows the wiring as correct and complete... I am at a loss. Can you please help me, and make a video on how to figure out, find, and fix issues found with the GFCI tester that are not so easy to figure out such as an open ground, open hot, open neutral, and hot/neutral being reversed? Some of those could be hard to track down if wiring issues occurred upstream between breaker panel and actual issue found, but strange things like what I have described is very important to figure out. I am not sure how I could even to simulate such issues to occur so I could understand how they could occur. Hope this one was a challenge for you and not something super simple that would make me be angry with myself. Hahahaha
It's either a bad tester, or a bad/missing ground connection, I would contact to qualified license electrician to help you out
MEMORIAL DAY!!
lol, Memaw's old fridgerator...
So I just moved into a house (new build) and I have a 2 pole 20 amp AFCI breaker where the top pole is wired to my brand new gas range ignitor/brand new microwave that about once a week trips a Siemens AFCI breaker. The electrician has been out here 3-4 times and though the trips have become less frequent they are still happening. I’ve had the microwave looked at as well. The breaker has been replaced, a receptacle was replaced, connections have been checked and tightened. But I’m running out of options. The electrician keeps recommending that I replace the AFCI with a traditional breaker. Can anyone give me some ideas on what to look for?
"Somebody shot a screw in the wall."
Can you talk on wires size (200am or 4/0 , 1awg , 2awg , kmil )
9:11- Memaw.... yep, he's a Carolinaian.
Lol close enough
would of checked for loose wires or connections and sounds. first at the receptical affecting the devices then at the breaker.
In 25 years i had never had a broken wire in the walls. Or a nail
Joe Joe I hear ya. Oh rats chewed wire. etc..... 31 years never seen wire broken due to rodent or decay
I work on huge 10 million dollar homes and up in Orange County and my homeowners are are getting afci trips all the time every time someone plugs in a tool working on the homes I CANNOT tell the homeowners let’s work over the phone for 1 week with them to figure out who and what is tripping there whole room off also we have to AFCI every plug so how do I tell the homeowner to plug there vacuum or tool into a non afci plug?
I like you my brother. Your legit 100
Let's go!!
Eaton breakers. There were 4 tripping. I can’t figure it out.
-one was to the bathroom and there was another GFCI in the there. Can you have two GFCI in a circuit?
GFCI's don't "think". :-)
So how about when its an AFCI-protected circuit that only includes a brand new microwave, and it 'only' interrupts about once every 10 days?
Thanks!
aaannnddddd..... two circuits (dishwasher and garbage disposal) switched the neutrals in a j-box... great channel man, keep up the great work! You are my virtual Electrician
Wow thank you for this super thanks!! sorry just now saw it!! Keep Grinding!!
My gf and af breakers work fine on the grid but when I switch to the solar inverter energy, it trips some of my gf and or af breakers (not all of them though) where I can’t even switch them back on or reset them. Now when I switch back to the grid they work fine and they come back on.🤦🏾♀️
Thank you for reaching out! you need to contact a qualified licensed solar electrician to look at this
Im a new home owner. AFCIs were tripping on 7 circuits! Randomly. Electricians came back 5 times. Reinstalled the AFCIs but with another brand that had "tails" (pigtails?) Problem appears to have gone went away so far except for the built in microwave. You're saying its 99% the electricians fault on 7 separate circuits? Same apprentice not being careful?
The industry is moving fast, at any time you can have a bad batch of breakers, 99% of the time, its the electrician.
@@ElectricalCodeCoach Thank you. They made a big deal that the replacement breakers had "tails" (pig tails?) and this would solve the problem. Make sense?
6 years after a bathroom remodel, I have a AFCI (Siemens QFGA2) suddenly trip and it won't reset. It's feeding one outlet, lighting and an exhaust fan. No appliances plugged in. No new nails or anything. I'm pulling the outlets and switches but so far no joy. Is there a way to test the breaker?
I'm having an afci nuisance tripping situation. I cannot find out what it is.
I just replaced my PC power strip with a tripplite isobar.
I'll start introducing things back into the circuit.
Kind of annoying because we have three bedrooms on one circuit.
The problem start after replacing the power strip?
@@ElectricalCodeCoach
No, this is why I purchased a new strip. It was a cheap one. With a 1000watt PC plugged into it. It was nearly old enough to have a drivers license.
It has to be something stupid. What's odd is it trips even if the killawatt reports low draw on the circuit. I don't think the PC is it. Must be a device in another room.
It's been frustrating to have all three rooms trip at once (same 15amp breaker) when usage is low.
Dishwasher trips our afci breaker. Nothing but dishwasher is on it so not sure why?
I hate when someone dose a crappie job splicing and a rat nest in the box.
Yeah man
AFCI's are problematic, Sony PS5 with a Flat screen TV will cause random nuisance trips .
Check the power strip
No power bar
I've been in contact with Schneider Square D and they're suggesting old electronics will trip the afci
What about grounds and neutrals on the same busses in older breaker panels? Especially if it's a subpanel that still has the grounds and neutrals connected. Or even if not a subpanel, but the grounds and neutrals are all intermingled on the busses.
My issue is a dimmer switch on 3-13 watt LED can lights in the same circuit as 5 receptacles with an ACFI/GFCI receptacle controlling the other 4 receptacles down stream. If the lights are on full or completely off, there are no problems. As soon as I plug a battery charger or another type of "appliance" in and DIM the lights, the AFCI receptacle trips. Any idea why? I always use a receptacle tester and all passed just fine. Thanks
Use a megger to find these partial shorts.
Numerous times you mention that "one is on a roll," or is not paying attention. I cannot tell you how many times we are going back to check simple installations, and having to make corrections - Focus is as critical as actually understanding what you are doing - should be one of the reasons for tripping on your list.
What about receptacle circuits (bedrooms for example) that also feed the lighting switch for the room.
Could the small arc in the switch itself be a root cause of afci trip?
Have a new TV and put a 15 amp rated surge protector on it but the circuit is 20 amps. Could that be a cause of random tripping of my AFCI breaker ?
Does anyone have issues with GE breakers
Siemens
Subbed.
How are we supposed to know what brand to stay away from if you don't tell us what it is? You are always saying you here to help.
Lol it's GE but I'm not going to bad mouth them on a video
He's here to help.... not here to get sued.
What are you talking about ?? GE is a great tried and true brand. It’s that Eaton CH combination arch faults and dual function afci/gfci breakers ! I am constantly going on service calls that have to do with troubleshooting a damn ch breaker. Even the regular ch breakers will just fail. You can turn off the breaker to work in something and go to reset it and it just won’t reset lol. They are trash. I would say most of the troubles , in this instance, that I find are the wrong neutral landed on the breaker. The second most common trouble would be it’s being used in the wrong application. Like a dual function breaker has been used on a dishwasher circuit when all you need is gfci protection. Or some other appliance that doesn’t need afci protection.
Why is the Xbox series X tripping the AFCI in my brand new home?
I have a weird issue that I am looking for a solution for. I have a microwave above my stove on one dedicated normal 20A circuit breaker, when the microwave runs, it pops a AFCI breaker on only one of my bedrooms most of the time. The microwave circuit does not have an issue in any way or time, but the bedroom pops most of the time the microwave runs. The circuitry has not been modified at any time, and the bedroom has a computer as well as the internet via cable modem. The bedroom has no issues at any time except when the microwave turns on. I have checked the conductors in the outlets both in the microwave and bedroom jacks. I will be looking at the neutral and ground bars in the box tomorrow.
Do you have any advice on this situation? I checked the phases these two breakers are on and they are both on the A circuit (Microwave in on the 5th slot left and the bedroom is on the 9th slot right side).
Hoping you might have an idea to check on..
thanks!
Stan Skaggs
Sounds like you're heading down the right path, I would contact a qualified license electrician it is likely going to be a neutral issue, or the fact that they're on the same phase and there's some type of interference