Think about that. The paper clip is just a resistive load. Some breakers trip before others will. SQ D breakers, for example, are made with a trip curve that will trip before most other manufacturers breakers. Federal Pacific will never have tripped and the paper clip would have burned in half. So this has NOTHING to do with the AFCI function, just how sensitive they have the over current set.
I have an affinity for Square D panels myself and when I was a contractor, I would only install Square D. ITE, Murray, Siemens, FPE, Bulldog, etc. I've seen many instances where the circuit conductors burned the insulation and jacket off or BX wiring that started fires where these breakers did not trip. Anytime that you have a circuit breaker that is 1950's technology, where it has been sitting in a damp basement for any length of time, the interior components are corroded in such a manner that prevents the breaker from performing. I have encountered Square D breakers in the same condition that still functioned. I work in an area where many of the houses are poorly maintained. Houses are cheap here. Investors from all over the world buy them and hire property management companies to maintain them. Most don't maintain and they will use a band aid approach to problems until it gets to a point that they command intervention. Even then, their go-to contractors are unlicensed and cannot obtain a permit so no inspection will ever occur until the problems become so severe, there is either a fire or they eventually call a licensed electrician.
HOW did you trip them??
With the $200 AFCI tester that I have that others have argued does not actually "test" but kicks the Square D circuit breaker. Admittedly, I have also tripped them by grounding the line to the grounded box. Not the best way but again I mention the three flights of stairs.
I don't know about damage, but the only legal way to test an AFCI breaker is by pushing the test button.
That is what I continue to read in this and other code forums. Many indicate that the tester can actually cause damage. I haven't observed this but with the number of poorly maintained houses that I inspect, I have discontinued using the tester I purchased just in case the conjecture is true.
No, I know of no one here who would risk liability and their license by removing AFCI breakers. As long as there is Home Depot, you tube and handy men this can happen without our help. Just like you, we have to deal with them like it or not. If you find them replaced with regular breakers I would take that as pretty good evidence that there was a problem with them because nobody is going to pay money to remove something that isn't broke. And we're not skeptical, we know. Scrap dealer maybe, not a pawn shop.
Unfortunately, with over 2500 vacant Zombie properties in this city coupled with a high poverty rate, desperate people will steal and sell anything that they can. Copper plumbing is a big target and when that is gone or replaced with PEX, they will actually cut the branch circuit wiring exposed in the basement. Encountering these circumstances repeatedly has taught me that people without money will steal anything including that which is nailed down. I have had many occurrences where people come home from work to find that their electricity is off. Subsequently, they learn from the utility that their meter has been stolen. The utility here requires an inspection before they will replace the stolen meter. Hard working people living in poor neighborhoods are now subject to not only going several days without power but also have to pay for a permit to facilitate the required inspection to get another electric meter, presently $70. In essence, they get to pay an insurance policy for the utility. If anything of an electrical nature occurs after the power is restored, the utility has no liability and the inspector can only be held liable if it can be proven that we knew of a defect but approved of it anyway.
The next question will be "why do people steal electrical meters?" Because there is a market for them. They sell for around $20. Tenants that are home all day know when their meter will be read. After it is read, replace the assigned meter with the stolen meter and you can go 3 weeks or more with that stolen meter before they think the utility will read again and they switch back to the assigned meter. This results in a 75% discount or so. It usually takes the utility several months before they notice that the electrical usage is substantially lower than the historical usage and they send security personnel out to investigate "off cycle." The utility has 500,000 customers and only three security inspectors. That is why we have some of the highest electrical rates in the nation.
It would literally take me hours to reiterate the numerous ways that people steal electricity.
And we will have to reluctantly comply with the requirements also for the same reasons.
-Hal
