arc fault tripping on load

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when talk to eaton corp they also asked about am towers in the area and lengh of wire may be a problem
 
I know that arc fault breakers have a tendency to trip when a motor load of 5 amps or more is plugged into the circuit such as with a vacuum cleaner.

Chris
 
Siemens' seems to be saying that over 5 A enables their AFCIs to trip, so all four entries in the truth table would be

under 5 A and no arc fault equals no trip
under 5 A and an arc fault equals no trip
over 5 A and no arc fault equals no trip
over 5 A and a valid arc fault equals trip

There is also a CPSC report that mentions that an arc fault has to last a minimum number of cycles within a certain time interval in order to be considered valid.
The exact details of each company's signature analysis method are probably proprietary.
 
I dont think it is a amperage problem.
I have 3 bedrooms in a row, first bedroom has the sub panel box contain 3 arc fault breakers. The middle bedroom is tripping when ever i use a sawzall in it. the other two bedrooms do not. This is new wiring in building, each room on own circuit. in the middle bedroom i checked for any shorts or neutral to ground found none, i changed the receptacles, and replaced all the wiring, still trips while changing was working until the last run, install jumper but still tripped. all switches were removed. Call Eaton they said it sounds like a "sweet spot" in the length of wiring, and to check for am radio stations. the also said use a surge protector. tried a surge protector and that worked. This is a hard sell to a customer when the other 2 rooms work fine. I did try swapping breakers. I am waiting for Bob (Eaton guru) to call me a hopefully get some sort of documentation and and explanation on this.. Has anybody else had this problem?
 
Have you checked that the bedroom circuits neutral is in fact the one connected to the afci breaker. I taught my self that one once.
 
yes i did check the neutrals many times, even when breakers were swapped when removed and installed gave a little tug just to be sure. I check all receptacles connections, they are not push in connection i wrap them around screws
 
I have to use the surge protector on each receptacle, yesterday I used a shop vac and did not need it. it seems only the sawzall and skill saw trips the breaker. I will try plugging a long extension cord in one receptacle and sawzall in another. this has cost a lot of time I was hoping for some documentation to provide the homeowner.
 
The breaker is a BR style, I am not to worried about the customer using a sawzall in the bedroom after construction is completed, my worry is for future installations and trouble shooting
 
ww430 said:
a "sweet spot"

tried a surge protector and that worked.
Click to expand...
The length of wiring in any house makes for a reasonably efficient antenna for AM wavelengths so I don't know what he means by this.

Protectors have capacitance to ground which is probably what shunted the AM freqs. to ground.

You think the brushes in those tools are almost worn out?
 
After speaking to a Eaton applications group person, he informed me that indeed their is a "sweet spot" in the length between 80 and 120 feet under load. This is called wire attenuation. I am not an engineer and dont want to be one. He mentioned that this was rare, but has happened, especially at the end of a construction job when all wiring is installed and working, carpenters are usually trimming and finishing work. He said Eaton is working on a new arc fault to prevent this from happening and also take care of tread mill issues. I am waiting on a response asking does the surge protector take the arc out of arc fault.
They also recommended a length of wire attached to the breaker or a extension cord on the circuit.
 
ww430 said:
They also recommended a length of wire attached to the breaker or a extension cord on the circuit.
Click to expand...
This is really weird because Siemens' Intelli-arc device needs to be connected through 4' lengths of wire.
If it's just an inductance issue I wondered why they just didn't put inductors inside the device.
 
According to Eaton tech a surge trap does not interfere with arc detection.
I'm assuming that a "surge trap" and a surge protector are one in the same.
 
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