Trouble Shooting AFCI Problems

 

Mike, over the course of my teaching career, I have found that many residential electricians find troubleshooting a circuit equipped with Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) protection a challenging task. After guiding numerous contractors how to troubleshoot the circuit, once in a very great while I still get a phone call or email indicating that no matter what the electrician does, they can't get a particular load to work on an AFCI-protected circuit. In the past, I would suggest trying the load on another AFCI circuit in the home or replacing the AFCI with a GFCI to understand if the circuit was experiencing a ground fault or grounded neutral in an attempt to understand if the circuit is tripping due to an arcing fault or a ground fault.

 

Most of us are familiar with trouble shooting a ground fault condition due to a GFCI tripping so if the circuit trips the GFCI, the issue in the circuit becomes a familiar trouble shooting task. Other courses of suggested action may include isolating the equipment that causes the circuit to trip or try replacing the equipment.

 

The initial stories of nuisance tripping with the AFCI quickly disappeared back in 2002 and the manufacturers pointed to the workmanship issues with regard to wiring practice as being the biggest issue tripping the AFCI. However, there are also those that are familiar with AFCIs finding real issues such as insulation damage on the wiring in recessed lighting. So there is convincing evidence that an AFCI tripping simply indicates that a ground fault or arc-fault exists and that the AFCI is doing its job.

 

Having said that, I have heard of a load or an appliance that simply would not work with an AFCI circuit breaker. The AFCI circuit breaker manufacturers are very interested in hearing about any evidence of these issues and have developed a one-stop means for reporting an AFCI tripping issue through the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) website. The electrician can visit http://afcisafety.org/report.html and provide NEMA and the manufacturers information of these instances for further investigation. I understand that your concern will be emailed directly to the manufacturer of the AFCI reported to be an issue and that each manufacturer will respond accordingly seeking the necessary information to understand unique findings.

 

Click here to view a copy of the latest Square D AFCI trouble shooting document for AFCI circuits that may provide you with an additional tool to resolve an issue you may have with an AFCI protected circuit.

 

Ryan Jackson, Electrical Inspector

NEC Consultant to Mike Holt Enterprises, Inc.