- Location
- Lockport, IL
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Engineer
NOTE: This is not a DIY post. It’s a technical question concerning how a breaker works.
A recent kitchen remodel included replacing a half dozen or so breakers with combination AFCI/GFCI breakers. That was four months ago. Last week one of them tripped. It powers the fridge, and I don’t know if it powers any other loads. Later the same day, it tripped again. It has not tripped since.
Question: Is there any way to tell, from looking at the tripped breaker, whether it tripped because of an arc or because of a ground fault?
The fridge is only about five years old, and I would doubt it could be the cause. The remodel project took all kitchen walls and the ceiling down to studs, and included a 100% rewire of all kitchen circuits. So I would also doubt that bad wiring could be the cause.
If this breaker trips again, I would like to get an idea of what I am dealing with, before I call the electrician who did the remodel. He lives over an hour from my house, and I don’t look forward to his trip charge. I should like to think we're still under warrantee. But this might not be related to the remodel, other than the new breaker type.
A recent kitchen remodel included replacing a half dozen or so breakers with combination AFCI/GFCI breakers. That was four months ago. Last week one of them tripped. It powers the fridge, and I don’t know if it powers any other loads. Later the same day, it tripped again. It has not tripped since.
Question: Is there any way to tell, from looking at the tripped breaker, whether it tripped because of an arc or because of a ground fault?
The fridge is only about five years old, and I would doubt it could be the cause. The remodel project took all kitchen walls and the ceiling down to studs, and included a 100% rewire of all kitchen circuits. So I would also doubt that bad wiring could be the cause.
If this breaker trips again, I would like to get an idea of what I am dealing with, before I call the electrician who did the remodel. He lives over an hour from my house, and I don’t look forward to his trip charge. I should like to think we're still under warrantee. But this might not be related to the remodel, other than the new breaker type.