I had a Weird One Today

Removing the gfpe from the afci is a mixed blessing. It will not trip as often as those with gfpe still active in the device but that is showing a gf issue not afci. Ideally one would want both but not in the same device unless, of course, there is a code that specifies which fault is causing the trip. I believe, but I don't know, that the new units will decipher what the issue is that is causing the trip
 
My pointe on bringing this up was to help others doing troubleshooting. The afci at her house do not like the treadmill being plugged in while the afci is booting up. Once booted it's fine.
 
tortuga said:
Yes I agree it takes these newer style AFCI much much longer to trip because it needs to see a specific arc pattern, the leak can be constant and not trip the AFCI.
Only when whatever is causing the leak occasionaly arcs will the AFCI trip, seemingly at 'random' to the homeowner.
A GFPE breaker (as you know) will trip on any high level of leakage current arcing or not.
If household lighting or electrical equipment has leakage over 30mA its faulty.
The GFPE saves time determining if a treadmill or dishwasher is faulty or if there is a legit arc fault in the branch circuit.
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The newer AFCI are not looking for leakage current, such as a ground fault. They are looking for arcs. Granted they can nuisance trip on many different things, such as the treadmill mentioned, or inductive kickback on a saw, etc.
I don't know how else to explain it.
Maybe @don_resqcapt19 can explain it better.
 
Little Bill said:
The newer AFCI are not looking for leakage current, such as a ground fault. They are looking for arcs.
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Agreed. I guess what I am saying is an intermittent arc to ground or neutral can have a constant high resistance ground fault that occasionally arcs, but the hi resistance ground fault is constant.
 
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