2008 AFCI requirement

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Electricman01

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NEC code it is gonna be a requirement in 2008 for it to be arc faults on every circuit in dwelling, don't you think that that is over kill?
 
The other day I was going to doctor a photo of [guy with funny mustache] with a cartoon bubble that would say, "ARC FAULT! This was after I made my "Goose-stepping small minded men in brown shirts" comments - After making the comment - I figured the picture would be going too far??????????

But yes - I believe the NFPA has gotten a little too draconian in terms of electrical design requirements of items that are only (IMO) ~60% perfected*, and at the whim of industry lobbyists. (Who may even pay pretty well to do so.)

*
  • Nuisance tripping
  • Equipment, and appliance conflicts
  • Varied performance.... I have tried a few experiments myself.
  • Not all breaker designs fail to safe, i.e. fail to function yet allow the circuit to continue to operate unnoticed.
Also IMO it also further complicates installation for the worse in some cases.
  • By default pushes low usage loads to full sized breakers and likewise higher wattage loads of kitchens and equipment into half or twin breakers that will have a higher failure rate down the line.
  • They produce heat in the panel, and this code cycle will add about a dozen or so more, as opposed to the 2-4 that were required before.
  • They have a tendency to buzz slightly, and I have had customers complain about panel placement. So no more bed room or hallway panels - as if it were not already hard enough to get a panel centrally located in a dwelling without a garage, or equipment room.
  • The additional cost may be a plus for us - bigger base cost means bigger mark-up, but also may cross the line for lower end consumers from doing it right or doing it at all - or worse skirting inspections.
That said - there is one slight benefit of AF's and GF breakers - They won't survive a high/low event (Lost neutral) - but it is a double edged sword. Sure they cook off and slaghlty reduce the time exposure to the varied voltages of that type of fire hazard to the circuit, but they cook off, let the smoke out, however you want to put it, but they each have their own little death throw there in the panel in the form of heat. I'm just trying to imagine what 24 of them dieing at the same time is going to be like???? If you are yet to pull a few smoked breakers out of a panel - your time will come.



Wheres the Lost Neutral Circuit Interupter? I might be all for that....
 
Nice post e. After reading it I'm still glad that NJ has deleted the AFCI requirement. We'll see what happens when they adopt the 2008 NEC in 2009.
 
guenia pig time?

guenia pig time?

I guess this is the guenia(sp.) pig time for the afcis. We had the same era for gfcis! Don't you look forwad to all the added head aches!! Just remember to get paid well for those head-aches!
 
infinity said:
Nice post e. After reading it I'm still glad that NJ has deleted the AFCI requirement. We'll see what happens when they adopt the 2008 NEC in 2009.
Click to expand...

I never in my life expected to utter these words: "Thank goodness I'm in New Jersey." So out of the 837,522,152 things that are horrible about this state, there's actually 1 good thing too... until '09 I'm sure.
 
e57 said:
The other day I was going to doctor a photo of [guy with funny mustache] with a cartoon bubble that would say, "ARC FAULT!
Click to expand...

How about this:
NEC2005AFCI.jpg
 
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