AFCI`S and flourescents that triped the breaker or not?

[a.wayne3@verizon.net]

Took awhile to find out why when a flourscent fixture in a closet was turned on it would trip the afci.There were 2 closets in the bedroom and either fixture would trip the breaker.Take the bulb out and it would hold.This was on a hot check
,in a receptacle the ground was touching the neutral cleared that and the problem was fixed.

 

[bphgravity]

Re: AFCI`S and flourescents that triped the breaker or not?

The AFCI was not seeing the ground-fault with no loads on. By turing on the light, the return current split between the neutral and ground connection allowing the AFCI to see the fault.

 

[a.wayne3@verizon.net]

Re: AFCI`S and flourescents that triped the breaker or not?

A GFCi without a load will see a neutral to ground fault but not an afci?I have had surge suppresors trip AFCI breakers is this because they saw a line to ground fault.

 

[hurk27]

Re: AFCI`S and flourescents that triped the breaker or not?

Allen GFCI's have a circuit in them that will trip the GFCI if there is a grounded neutral on the load side. and the fact that they will trip with only 5ma's where a AFCI needs 30am to trip so they should only trip with after a load is applied with a grounded neutral. It sometimes takes turning on more than one load if the first load is not much. I carry a small hand held hair dryer just to test for this.

But your right about the surge suppressors as we have been having problems when we get customers putting their computers in there bedrooms and they have a paddle fan with a click type wall control, or try to use a vacuum, or hair dryer. as it spikes the circuit and because the surge suppressor has a L/G TVSS device it trips the AFCI
I e-mailed UL about it, but I have never heard anything back.

 

[luke warmwater]

Re: AFCI`S and flourescents that triped the breaker or not?

I should also place this in the AFCI Forum, maybe a Moderator can move it.

The following is from a fax that I received from Cutler Hammer on 9/09/2004:

titled: What To Do If An AFCI Breaker Trips

this was a 2-page fax. the first page dealt with the common neutral/ground connections, overloads, short circuts, loose connections, and other basic mis-wiring and faulty breaker type problems.

half way down the second page, was the following:

'If these steps do not identify the fault, look for the following loads that could be causing the breaker to trip:

A. Dimmer Switch with >1000w of incandescent lighting load. AFCI breakers must have 1000w or less of lighting load.

B. Surge Strip or Surge Device Check for end-of-life indication. If the Surge device needs to be replaced or has no end-of-life indication, remove it from the circut. MOVs that reach end-of-life in Surge protection devices can trip AFCI breakers due to excessive leakage current to ground.

C. Multiple Electronic Ballasts UL allows electronic ballasts to utilize the ground for leakage current to pass FCC requirements. The ground current from multiple ballasts may cause AFCI breakers to trip.

D. Ceiling Fan With Speed Control In the past, RF noise caused some AFCI breakers to trip when turned on.

E. Lightning Storms With Surge Devices In The Home When functioning properly, surge devices absorb current and dissipate it over time to ground. This may cause AFCI breakers to trip. Utilize the PUSH TO TEST button when resetting after any storms to verify the functionality of the breaker.

F. Lightning Storms With NO Surge Protection In The Home All AFCIs hace inherent surge protection for the electronic circutry inside the breakers. They are required to withstand 2kV surges by UL. Greater than 2kV surges may damage AFCIs. Utilize the PUSH TO TEST button when resetting after any storms to verify the functionality of the breaker.

G. Televisions Faulty televisions may have leakage current to ground that trips the AFCI breaker