Other receptacle on Smoke AFCI ..OK ??

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eagle

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Building Inspector looking for clarification on NEC 2002 code...

During a Building inspection today I found all smokes were interconnected/battery backup but there was (1) outlet in a study on the smoke detector circuit. Dont' have a clue why as the smokes were miles away.

To confirm, using my AFCI circuit tester, I loaded the receptacle in the study and it killed the entire smoke circuit. Logically, this doesn't sound good .. if a bad lamp cord in the study can defeat the entire smoke protection.

If I read 210.12 correctly it appears other outlets on a AFCI are OK ( ie.. adding receptacles to a bedroom etc ) but it lingers that there is a section requiring smokes on a dedicated ciruit .....

THE SIMPLE QUESTION: Can there be any other receptacles or switches on the same circuit as the AFCI Smoke detector circuit ?

Need some help here ... :confused:


Glen
 
Re: Other receptacle on Smoke AFCI ..OK ??

Thanks Ryan,

Can you direct me to a section in the handbook or illustrated 02'that I can refer to. I repsect your opinion ... but I need a section that I can provide to electrical contractors ..
Thanks in advance ..

Glen
 
Re: Other receptacle on Smoke AFCI ..OK ??

Hi Eagle. There is nothing in the code that says "you can put other things on the circuit". Thats because that is not how the NEC is written. The NEC tells us what we must do or what we must not do, not what we may do (generally speaking, of course).

I think that if there was a section that would address it, it would be 210.11(C), which tells us about what circuits in a dwelling must be dedicated or isolated from other things, such as the laundry, bathrooms, small appliances, etc.

A better question might be, "Does the code say that you can not have anything else on the circuit"? The answer would be NO. :)

[ April 21, 2004, 09:29 AM: Message edited by: ryan_618 ]
 
Re: Other receptacle on Smoke AFCI ..OK ??

To expand on whay Ryan said: There is no section that says it's ok to put the hall receptacles on the same circuit as the living room receptacles. That doesn't mean you can't do it. If there is no code reason that you can't do something, then by default, you can do it. I agree, there is more reason to wonder about putting a receptacle on the smoke detector circuit than to wonder about putting the hall receptacle on the living room circuit :) but the code answere remains the same.
 
Re: Other receptacle on Smoke AFCI ..OK ??

Originally posted by eagle:
(1) outlet in a study on the smoke detector circuit. Dont' have a clue why as the smokes were miles away.
Glen
Click to expand...
Some people like to put something else on the smoke circut. In case the circut is tured off, it is more likely that it will be noticed.
(1) study receptacle would be less noticed than say the kitchen lights.
 
Re: Other receptacle on Smoke AFCI ..OK ??

Some people like to put something else on the smoke circut. In case the circut is tured off, it is more likely that it will be noticed.
Click to expand...
I put my SD's on the lighting circuit for the location being served. A tripped breaker on a plug circuit may go un-noticed for a while. However, someone will almost always go reset a lighting breaker.
 
Re: Other receptacle on Smoke AFCI ..OK ??

At the cost of an afci we tag the smokes off the master bedroom circuit.That is one that wont go unoticed if it trips
 
Re: Other receptacle on Smoke AFCI ..OK ??

Actually the requirement that is being requested by Eagle is located in NFPA 72, Chapter 11 - 11.6.3(4)AC Primary Power Source.
AC primary (main)power shall be supplied either from a dedicated branch circuit or the unswitched portion of a branch circuit also used for power and lighting.

(5) Operation of a switch (other than a circuit breaker) or a ground-fault circuit-interrupter shall not cause loss of primary (main) power.

AFCIs are not mentioned, and the above qoutes are from the 2002 version. Some local codes do not permit the smoke alarms on the same circuit as the AFCI protection.

Pierre
 
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