AFCI Breakers Trip at utility loss of power. Any solutions?

P

Power Solutions

Member
Hi All,
So from reading it appears to be an issue with AFCI breakers, that they trip when the utility has a failure.
Back-up generators are great, but not if the AFCI has tripped. Not real good for the food in the freezer.
Has anyone come up with a code compliant solution for this issue?
I am at a loss.
Dj
 
Inductive kickback possibly causing this. RC network snubber device possibly can resolve if that is the cause. Maybe first make sure you have surge protector at the service, it may absorb some the effect as well.
 
Is it the AFCI piece that's tripping of the GFCI piece? The Leviton dual function breakers are nice because they have an LED indicator for each function, so you can see which function caused the trip.

During lightening storms I see breakers trip because of the GFCI function, not the AFCI function.

With all this automation and backup power becoming the norm, I wonder how long it's going to be before there's pressure to allow remote resets of AFCI and GFCI breakers.
 
VirutalElectrician said:
Is it the AFCI piece that's tripping of the GFCI piece?
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Good point. I’ll just add that most brands of DF breakers have some form of telling you what the trip was caused by. You just need to read the instruction sheet… you know, that piece of paper that was in the box that we all use to get rid of chewing gum or as emergency TP…
 
Jraef said:
Good point. I’ll just add that most brands of DF breakers have some form of telling you what the trip was caused by. You just need to read the instruction sheet… you know, that piece of paper that was in the box that we all use to get rid of chewing gum or as emergency TP…
Click to expand...
Yup. The CAFCI/GFCI breakers in my QO panel differentiate by holding down the test button... how long it takes to trip tells you what kind of fault you had.
 
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