Here we go again.....

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Hendrix

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I just recieved a call from a home owner. Everywhere that his wife plugs in her Kirby vacume cleaner, it trips the afci. He wants to know if he has to "use a broom" to clean the house. How should an inspector answer this situation? :confused:
 
Use the bathroom, kitchen, garage, or outside GFCI outlets for now?
(Until someone decides what to do about this problem...)

And what is the solution?

I don't suppose vacuum cleaner manufacturers will redesign their vacuums?

Dedicated "vacuum cleaner outlets" around the house on regular breakers?
 
P.S. In Oregon the 2008 AFCI "rooms list" is amended to just "bedroom"...

210.12 Arc-Fault Circuit-Interrupter Protection.
…
(B) Dwelling Units. All 120-volt, single phase, 15- and 20-ampere branch circuits supplying outlets installed in dwelling unit bedrooms shall be protected by a listed arc-fault circuit interrupter, combination-type, installed to provide protection of the branch circuit.

Above from...
(Adobe PDF reader page 18)
http://www.cbs.state.or.us/external/bcd/notices/Adopted_Rules/20080401_amend_918-305_pr.pdf
 
Hendrix said:
I just recieved a call from a home owner. Everywhere that his wife plugs in her Kirby vacume cleaner, it trips the afci. He wants to know if he has to "use a broom" to clean the house. How should an inspector answer this situation? :confused:
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Apparently there are a few brands of vacuums that trip AFCI. I don't have an answer except to get a new vacuum. I am also assuming nothing else trips the afci.
 
210.12

210.12

I like the other than kitchens, bathrooms, unfinished basements, garages and outdoors options myself. Those recept. probably would not trip.:roll:
 
Hendrix said:
I just recieved a call from a home owner. Everywhere that his wife plugs in her Kirby vacume cleaner, it trips the afci. He wants to know if he has to "use a broom" to clean the house. How should an inspector answer this situation? :confused:
Click to expand...

An inspector should simply say that he is sorry, but there is nothing he can do about it. I would also think that with Kirby's being all metal that they might give GFCI's a hard time too.

You could always wink and tell them that after you leave they can do anything they want. :wink:

Do any of you that have HO's install pool alarms on the door really believe that they are still there after you've walked out the front door?
 
Thats been one of the problems with afci's. The arcing of the brushes in motors have caused many to trip. They sense an arc and trip. They are required by code and inspectors have to enforce the NEC. Like anything new there are problems but the industry will get on board and make appliances that will be afci friendly.
 
why don't we design a device (adapter) that will allow a vacuum to run on an AFCI. That and a fancy infomercial with billy and we'll all be rich. I can see the line at the patent office now :cool:
 
SEO said:
Thats been one of the problems with afci's. The arcing of the brushes in motors have caused many to trip. They sense an arc and trip. They are required by code and inspectors have to enforce the NEC. Like anything new there are problems but the industry will get on board and make appliances that will be afci friendly.
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In the mean time I have to tell the HO that it is not the fault of the electrician and to get a 100' extension cord. This just seems very unprofessional :mad:
 
Hendrix said:
In the mean time I have to tell the HO that it is not the fault of the electrician and to get a 100' extension cord. This just seems very unprofessional :mad:
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How is it unprofessional? Your job as an inspector is to enforce the code and, no, it's not the electricians fault. As much as we would like we can't fix everyones problems.

Just because I don't agree with the some of the codes doesn't mean I don't enforce them. That's the lot in life that I chose and yes sometimes we have to be the bad guy.
 
Hendrix said:
In the mean time I have to tell the HO that it is not the fault of the electrician and to get a 100' extension cord. This just seems very unprofessional :mad:
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If an inspector dosen't want to follow the code because he thinks that makes him unprofessional I can't comprehend. Every code cycle something comes up that consumers have problems with ( gfics, 4-wire circuits for range and dryers the list could go on and on ) I tell the people that the job is code complient . You can tell them that your sorry but why? I may have taken your post out of context.
 
I'm with cobwoyjwc here Hendrix.

An inspector is not concerned with a plug-in vacuum and it's problems - THAT is the professional stance.
 
Hendrix said:
In the mean time I have to tell the HO that it is not the fault of the electrician and to get a 100' extension cord. This just seems very unprofessional :mad:
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You know sometimes when there is a lot at stake for a manufacturer with a new product ($$), they will be right on top of problems, fly out an engineer to see what is going on with their product not working properly, etc.

Might want to try calling the manufacturer's engineering department and see what they have to say.
 
davedottcom said:
I

I'm curious if the breaker is a Siemens or GE. I've still never had one single nuisance trip from any Square D breakers.
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I have, with QO AFCIs.

Dear John,
Thank you for using the Schneider Electric web site. There are some models of vacuum cleaners that have problems with AFI circuits. Most are 2-speed models that are started out in high speed. We have found that starting in low speed does not trip the breaker. On single speed vacuums start out the vacuum in high carpet setting to eliminate startup surge.
Please feel free to contact us if we can assist you further.
Thank you,
Tim Milbert.
Product Support Specialist
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That is the email I got as a response from SquareD.
 
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