AFCI troubleshooting

[electricmanscott]

Year/Month/Day Time based on 24 hour (14:53 = 2:53 PM) Eastern Standard Time
2008/Dec/03

Got it! Now....why?

 

[bjp_ne_elec]

Got it! Now....why?

Gar's going to have to answer that one

 

[gar]

081203-1950 EST

electricmanscott:

This provides a monotonic number with respect to date and time. Something in the body of the text to use for search purposes, or just identification.

I create filenames at times using the same method. So if I create a CNC (computer numerical control) program file with a name like B457_D23-081101-2303 and later modify this and change the date and time portion to 081203-0900, then on doing an alphanumeric sort the files will be in time order.

With this site's search function I can enter 081202-**** and find my yesterday's posts. Or 0811**-**** and find last months. Unfortunately Google does not allow wildcard character substitution. But under Google you can use * for a word.

Until AFCIs can be tested by an external tester, then I as a user can not really have any faith in the device. Fundamentally I have no idea what the black box with an on-off switch and a test button does until I can apply a signal that I believe represents the signal this device should detect. I have no reason to believe the manufacturer or UL that this device will in fact protect me and not cause false alarms. What is a reasonable false alarm rate?

.

 

[electricmanscott]

081203-1950 EST

electricmanscott:

This provides a monotonic number with respect to date and time. Something in the body of the text to use for search purposes, or just identification.

I create filenames at times using the same method. So if I create a CNC (computer numerical control) program file with a name like B457_D23-081101-2303 and later modify this and change the date and time portion to 081203-0900, then on doing an alphanumeric sort the files will be in time order.

With this site's search function I can enter 081202-**** and find my yesterday's posts. Or 0811**-**** and find last months. Unfortunately Google does not allow wildcard character substitution. But under Google you can use * for a word.



.

Interesting. I knew there had to be a reason.

 

[Cow]

Sounds like Gar should of been a librarian......:wink:

 

[Ravenvalor]

Line and loads isolated ground connected to the ground bus in the panel

Megger the energized conductor to neutral
Megger the energized conductor to ground
Megger the neutral to ground.

1000 VDC test voltage,

Check all loads is the AFCI tripping with loads connected of without loads connected?

Thanks for the reply, can you clarify a couple of things for me please?

Megger the energized conductor to neutral. It should be open
Megger the energized conductor to ground. It should be open
Megger the neutral to ground. It should be open

1000 VDC test voltage. set my tester to 1000 vdc, this is enough voltage to break through any resistance that will prevent a regular ohmmeter from breaking through. Also, a regular ohmmeter cannot make a complete circuit because of the low voltage dc? If for instance I find a short from neutral to ground, then I can work my way downstream with my meggohmeter until I find the culprit? When I start to get close to the problem do I set my tester to a different voltage?

Check all loads is the AFCI tripping with loads connected of without loads connected? since the problem is an occasional one the customer is slowly removing one load at a time until the circuit breakers quit tripping.

Thanks,
Jim