Levition Smart Lock Pro AFCI Receptacle

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GlennH

Member
Thanks for the heads up.


If i may , and correct me if I'm wrong, In your typical house with romex,

Do i understand it right that you can not use these to comply with 210.12 as it will not protect the branch circuit supplying the required areas? This would include the wire from the panel to the first afci receptical, right?

And yes i'm aware of the exception with metal raceways to the first outlet



210.12 Arc-Fault Circuit-Interrupter Protection for
Dwelling Units. All 120-volt, single phase, 15- and 20-
ampere branch circuits supplying outlets installed in dwelling
unit family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, parlors,
libraries, dens, bedrooms, sunrooms, recreation rooms,
closets, hallways, or similar rooms or areas shall be protected
by a listed arc-fault circuit interrupter, combinationtype,
installed to provide protection of the branch circuit.
 

tom baker

First Chief Moderator
Staff member
Recptacle AFCIs are allowed as an exception with restrictions on the wiring method to the panel They will be required Jan 1. 2014 for places that will require AFCI - where the receptacle is replaced.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Thanks for the heads up.


If i may , and correct me if I'm wrong, In your typical house with romex,

Do i understand it right that you can not use these to comply with 210.12 as it will not protect the branch circuit supplying the required areas? This would include the wire from the panel to the first afci receptical, right?

And yes i'm aware of the exception with metal raceways to the first outlet



210.12 Arc-Fault Circuit-Interrupter Protection for
Dwelling Units. All 120-volt, single phase, 15- and 20-
ampere branch circuits supplying outlets installed in dwelling
unit family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, parlors,
libraries, dens, bedrooms, sunrooms, recreation rooms,
closets, hallways, or similar rooms or areas shall be protected
by a listed arc-fault circuit interrupter, combinationtype,
installed to provide protection of the branch circuit.
210.12(B)(2) doesn't seem to require the metal raceway or cable method to the first outlet if replacing a receptacle or extending the circuit. But if you are installing a new circuit, then you apparently need to have the metal raceway or cable method to the first outlet. Sounds clear as mud to me.
 

ELA

Senior Member
Occupation
Electrical Test Engineer
Thanks for the link.

This part caught my attention.
"Engineered to detect and provide protection from both parallel and series arc-faults downstream and series arc-faults upstream from its location".

I bet there will not be any issues with these devices at all, once they hit the field. :)
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Thanks for the link.

This part caught my attention.
"Engineered to detect and provide protection from both parallel and series arc-faults downstream and series arc-faults upstream from its location".

I bet there will not be any issues with these devices at all, once they hit the field. :)

So if your neighbor is on same transformer it will respond to a fault at the neighbors house:cool:

If the fault is in series I guess it makes sense it would detect it. But in series could be any point between the device and source, not just within the branch circuit, even the current AFCI breakers likely will do the same thing if there is a series fault upstream. Something to make a troubleshooter confused, response to an upstream problem.
 
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ASG

Senior Member
Location
Work in NYC
Occupation
Electrical Engineer, PE
without reading I assume the trip will protect downstream or "load" like GFCI do and therefor save us $15 per circuit.

Much like counter GFCI receptacles, I believe it is confusing to the user if you do not make all of the receptacles AFCI and then a fault at one receptacle would cause a different receptacle to trip. Especially in a bedroom where many receptacles that aren't used (and could be the one that is installed to have AFCI protection) end up hidden behind furniture.
 

lavacano

Chadwick Ferguson, Safe and Sound Electric
Location
Washington State
Occupation
02 master
Much like counter GFCI receptacles, I believe it is confusing to the user if you do not make all of the receptacles AFCI and then a fault at one receptacle would cause a different receptacle to trip. Especially in a bedroom where many receptacles that aren't used (and could be the one that is installed to have AFCI protection) end up hidden behind furniture.

Yes in a custom house i would even sign off on gfci breakers. In these sub $5000 track houses not to mention multifamily dwelings they are going to get 1 afci per ckt.
 

G._S._Ohm

Senior Member
Location
DC area
Leviton has a SmartLock Pro AFCI receptacle out:
You could ask these guys about false positives (reporting good arcs as bad). These things don't seem to have a problem with false negatives (not reporting bad arcs).
I don't believe it is possible to minimize both at the same time.

They'll probably hang up on you.
 

al hildenbrand

Senior Member
Location
Minnesota
Occupation
Electrical Contractor, Electrical Consultant, Electrical Engineer
Leviton has a SmartLock Pro AFCI receptacle out:
http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/SectionDisplay.jsp?section=55314&minisite=10251
My supplier quoted about $25 and will be available in Jan 2013. Another supplier was $37.
I noted this AFCI device is tamper resistant.
I've been able to put some of these on my truck. AFTR1 is 15 A and AFTR2 is 20 A. $26 @. There's an additional catalog character for color after the number. My supplier is taking "pre-orders" at this point and everything that comes in goes out the door within hours.

Leviton has a Product Release Q & A at: http://communities.leviton.com/message/4479#4479

Two answers stood out to me. 1.) Actual OBC AFCI trip times vary dependent upon "type of arc" and the amount of current. 2.) A dead front OBC AFCI is in the works.
 

hurk27

Senior Member
I've been able to put some of these on my truck. AFTR1 is 15 A and AFTR2 is 20 A. $26 @. There's an additional catalog character for color after the number. My supplier is taking "pre-orders" at this point and everything that comes in goes out the door within hours.

Leviton has a Product Release Q & A at: http://communities.leviton.com/message/4479#4479

Two answers stood out to me. 1.) Actual OBC AFCI trip times vary dependent upon "type of arc" and the amount of current. 2.) A dead front OBC AFCI is in the works.

I think this one caught my eye:

Q: Where is it manufactured?
A: China
 

tom baker

First Chief Moderator
Staff member
Much like counter GFCI receptacles, I believe it is confusing to the user if you do not make all of the receptacles AFCI and then a fault at one receptacle would cause a different receptacle to trip. Especially in a bedroom where many receptacles that aren't used (and could be the one that is installed to have AFCI protection) end up hidden behind furniture.

Ah ha! my first 2017 NEC proposal. The test reset buttons on AFCI receptacles shall be accessible.
 
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