I helped a friend of mine locate an Arc Fault problem last night.
Arc fault to the Master Bed and Bath tripped and shut off all of the lights.
When I got there I tried to reset the breaker but it would trip immediately.
I took the hot and the neutral off and the breaker held.
I left it on, and touched the neutral to the breaker neutral terminal and it tripped.
I thought that it was interesting that it tripped even though the hot was not hooked up,so I reset the breaker but left the hot disconnected.
went down the line seperating the neutrals in the switch boxes until it cleared.
Found a socket in the Vanity Light where the neutral was touching the metal housing, repaired it and it solved the problem.
I dont do residential work but I just found it interesting that I could troubleshoot the problem without ever having to connect the hot to the breaker.
Arc fault to the Master Bed and Bath tripped and shut off all of the lights.
When I got there I tried to reset the breaker but it would trip immediately.
I took the hot and the neutral off and the breaker held.
I left it on, and touched the neutral to the breaker neutral terminal and it tripped.
I thought that it was interesting that it tripped even though the hot was not hooked up,so I reset the breaker but left the hot disconnected.
went down the line seperating the neutrals in the switch boxes until it cleared.
Found a socket in the Vanity Light where the neutral was touching the metal housing, repaired it and it solved the problem.
I dont do residential work but I just found it interesting that I could troubleshoot the problem without ever having to connect the hot to the breaker.