AFCI breaker
- Thread starter Ralphie
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Massachusetts
The neutral is in contact with the grounding conductor or other grounded metal.
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Retired PV System Designer
90% chance it is a crossed neutral issue. If so a GFCI breaker would trip too.
Did you properly wire the circuit neutral through the breaker?
Is this a single pole breaker on half of an MWBC?
Did you properly wire the circuit neutral through the breaker?
Is this a single pole breaker on half of an MWBC?
K8MHZ
Senior Member
- Occupation
- Electrician
The most likely culprit in new construction is a terminal touching a bare grounding wire in a box somewhere.
I agree w/ the above- check for incorrectly blended neutrals and egc inadvertently mating with a neutral, 99% it's going to be one of the two.
The fact that you tried another afci and got same results excludes the chance of defective afci, but what was the "anything" plugged in?
The fact that you tried another afci and got same results excludes the chance of defective afci, but what was the "anything" plugged in?
klineelectric
Member
- Location
- FL
- Occupation
- electrical contractor
I've had trim nails (crown moulding) hit wire, touching neutral and ground ,did same thing. Also had had insulators hit wire with their stapler with same result. If nothing is obvious you just have to start pulling circuit apart and checking each wire, almost always continuity on ground and neutral if breaker only trips with load applied.
delfadelfa
Member
- Location
- Cincinnati, OH
If the neutral was touching the bare ground anywhere, the breaker would trip immediately. Unless I misunderstood the problem, it only trips as soon as anything is plugged into a receptacle. So does that not take the neutral to ground out of the problem. Unless the thing that you are plugging in the receptacle has a neutral to ground problem. Unless the thing you are plugging in has two prongs and does not have a ground. I only had that problem once when I had the wrong neutral on the breaker. Check continuity between panel and receptacle neutral.
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Retired PV System Designer
A GFCI breaker or receptacle may contain an active ground to neutral continuity tester.
But does the GFP in an AFCI breaker with GFP also have that feature?
But does the GFP in an AFCI breaker with GFP also have that feature?
- Location
- Massachusetts
That depends on the design of the breaker.
Many won't trip until a load is placed on them causing a current imbalance.
mbrooke
Batteries Included
- Location
- United States
- Occupation
- Technician
Crossed neutral or standing neutral to ground fault as others have said. In this case the AFCI is doing its job.
ptonsparky
Tom
- Occupation
- EC - retired
You will need to get your test equipment out and check for the problems others have listed. Not an AFCI nuisance trip at this stage of the game. Someone screwed up somewhere.
romex jockey
Senior Member
- Location
- Vermont
- Occupation
- electrician
de energize and lift neutrals off the MBJ , ring them out to earth, then to each other.
if that fails it's megger time
~RJ~
if that fails it's megger time
~RJ~
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
I could be wrong but I believe that class A GFCI's must contain the components that seek out N-G faults (even with no load) that is why those trip immediately when you have such a fault. Without that component, there has to be enough current flowing to cause enough imbalance in the GF sensor to trip it, OP has no such current/not enough current until they plug things in.
- Status