Gfi/afci tester
- Thread starter jap
- Start date
- Status
is ther any tester that can be used for inspection purpose, ex plug into recpt in bedroom and trip the breaker just to make sure the bedroom recpts are arc-fault protected without having to go to the panel hit the testbutton then retrun to bedroom and check with three light tester and then return to panel rand reset
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
There are GFCI testers but I have not seen a afci tester. I guess you could short the neutral and ground for that purpose.
ceb58
Senior Member
- Location
- Raeford, NC
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
I bought a greenlee GFCI tester years ago. It costs, then, about $80.00. It varies from 0 ma to about 20 ma. It works very well.
I built something similar with a 12-position selector switch, a Radio Shack project box, and some resistors. I can test from .5 to 100 milliamp.
al hildenbrand
Senior Member
- Location
- Minnesota
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor, Electrical Consultant, Electrical Engineer
No.
The arc-fault protection, itself, is untestable.
We can test that the breaker is downstream from (fed from) the breaker, but that's it.
What's fascinating to me is that UL tells us that the ONLY way to test an AFCI breaker is with the test button, and that test only verifies that the breaker will trip. . . .it doesn't tell us ANYTHING about what CAUSES the trip.
c2500
Senior Member
- Location
- South Carolina
I have a magic 8-ball that can be hooked up to a AFCI breaker. You shake it, and it will tell you what caused the fault.
Much more detail than the Manufacturers give.
Coming soon to a supply house near you.
I have a magic 8-ball that can be hooked up to a AFCI breaker. You shake it, and it will tell you what caused the fault.
Much more detail than the Manufacturers give.
Coming soon to a supply house near you.
Yeah what's that going for? I'll take 5
Jesse7623
Senior Member
- Location
- eastern Mass
what type of afci??? Series or parallel or both?I have an Ideal GFCI/AFCI tester in my hand.But as far as I know the inspector usually only pushes the button on the breaker.
76nemo
Senior Member
- Location
- Ogdensburg, NY
AFCI breakers look for a certain waveform signature/s that opposes specific circuitry in the breaker design itself. Not all AFCI's are created equal. Some will be sensitive to certain signatures that others won't, not as much anyways. Again, as stated many times before, the only listed way to test the breakers themselves is the test button on the breaker.
Stink,....? Yes, but it's a fact.
- Location
- Simi Valley, CA
I have a tester that you dial in the mA's you want to test a gfci, but the problem with it, is that it test from ground to hot, which the gfci doesn't do, in fact it won't work if the outlet doesn't have a ground and actually has a warning on it that says not to use it in these situations.
As far as the afci, I agree with what you've been told and the manufactures will tell you the same thing.
Even if the tester told you what the problem was you would still have to go and find it.
As far as the afci, I agree with what you've been told and the manufactures will tell you the same thing.
Even if the tester told you what the problem was you would still have to go and find it.
ELA
Senior Member
- Occupation
- Electrical Test Engineer
I disagree with that thought Al,
Having just spent a lot of time testing and getting to understand the operation of an AFCI I believe they are not as complicated as they might at first seem. I have peered inside of the black box.
A tester is totally realistic in my opinion.
One of the issues becomes the line impedance when you do a test. If the line impedance is too high (between the tester and the breaker - if testing remotely) the tester may not be able to produce the required arc characteristic at the breaker itself.
If you eliminate the line impedance variable a tester can readily reproduce a simulated arc.
Arcs have readily understood characteristics that the breaker manufacturers understand and use to design their product. A manufacturer of a "tester" can duplicate this as well.
The Ideal AFCI tester gets part of the way there. It is very possible to develop a tester that would allow you to vary the arc simulation characteristics, such as peak amplitude to determine if a breaker is meeting its specifications.
Of course the more complicated you want the tester to be the more it would cost.
Here is a link to some testing I have done if interested:
http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=111163
glene77is
Senior Member
- Location
- Memphis, TN
Cowboy,
For the GFCI , with a load present, try shorting the neutral to ground.
That cuts the return resistance in half,
and upsets the balance in the toroid coil
and trips the GFCI.
I agree that the button on the AFCI is the only way to test it.
By experimenting, you could generate a noise signal sufficient to trip the AFCI.
Then you would have to carry the noise generator around with you.
I am thinking that a high frequency audio signal might trip a AFCI.
Of course, this imaginary test method is not UL listed/approved.:smile:
For the GFCI , with a load present, try shorting the neutral to ground.
That cuts the return resistance in half,
and upsets the balance in the toroid coil
and trips the GFCI.
I agree that the button on the AFCI is the only way to test it.
By experimenting, you could generate a noise signal sufficient to trip the AFCI.
Then you would have to carry the noise generator around with you.
I am thinking that a high frequency audio signal might trip a AFCI.
Of course, this imaginary test method is not UL listed/approved.:smile:
- Status