What could it be?

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Again, I'd start by replacing a few of the GFCI breakers with standard breakers, and installing GFCI receptacles where necessary.

It just sounds a lot easier than trying to trouble shoot an intermittent problem.

If the breakers still trip, its not a gfci issue at all. If the outlets still trip, you have reduced the problem to the appliance.

It just seems like the easiest way to narrow the problem down, or maybe even solve it without ever knowing exactly what was wrong.
 
In cases where things like this seem randomly occurring, I've often found it to be moisture related. So I'm wondering if, in a combo situation, you have some sloppy installation work on receptacles etc., but when perfectly dry, the circuit works as it should. However when it gets a little moisture involved, for example when the dishwasher runs and steams, or they boil water in the microwave, or maybe even poorly installed vapor barriers, shorts take place that then, once they happen, immediately vaporize the cause and return to normal.

A quick way to check this is to spray the receptacles down with WD-40, which will separate the water molecules to eliminate conduction. It will last for a week or so. If the tripping stops, you've proved the concept. Fixing it may present a whole new set of issues, but st least you know. Conversely if it makes NO difference, you've eliminated a possibility at little cost.
 
1- Check to see if there are metal romex connectors tightened down to far on the circuits leading into the panel.

2- I had a situation where a flat screen tv would randomly trip unrelated arc fault breakers when the screen would go bright white. Took many trips and opened up and looked many things over before this became apparent.
 
I’ll throw in an odd one here also...
Friend of mine was tripping GFCI/AFCI breakers and outlets randomly throughout the house but only at odd times, never able to track it down to using a certain piece of equipment, time, day, etc.
He is a police officer and we finally traced it down to his two way radio. Trunked system that would transmit periodically even when not actively using it. As it switched towers or talkgroups, the transmit light would illuminate for a brief second and if the radio was near a protected outlet or a downstream device, it would trip from the RF.
He often left it on when in the charger in his kitchen. Once we found that, he reoriented the radio, charger and was more cognizant of where it was when on which resolved his issues 100%. Not to mention, other officers in his department!!!
 
dpcarls1598 said:
I’ll throw in an odd one here also...
Friend of mine was tripping GFCI/AFCI breakers and outlets randomly throughout the house but only at odd times, never able to track it down to using a certain piece of equipment, time, day, etc.
He is a police officer and we finally traced it down to his two way radio. Trunked system that would transmit periodically even when not actively using it. As it switched towers or talkgroups, the transmit light would illuminate for a brief second and if the radio was near a protected outlet or a downstream device, it would trip from the RF.
He often left it on when in the charger in his kitchen. Once we found that, he reoriented the radio, charger and was more cognizant of where it was when on which resolved his issues 100%. Not to mention, other officers in his department!!!
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That's something I've considered.... maybe they're ham operators, or use FRS or GMRS or some other radio system. I have yet to ask the HO about it.
 
480sparky said:
That's something I've considered.... maybe they're ham operators, or use FRS or GMRS or some other radio system. I have yet to ask the HO about it.
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With a log as detailed as the HO provided, I would doubt the above. If not, and RF is still a consideration, look for antennas in the neighborhood, especially big ones on vehicles. Illegal CB operators can emit huge amounts of spurious RF.
 
Are these Seimen's gfci breakers. I had issues with about 7 of them right out of the box. Can you remove the gfci breaker and use gfci receptacles somewhere?
 
480sparky said:
If it's a solid N-G short, the circuit would never work. Same with multiple GFCI-protected circuits having their neutrals tied together. The instant a load is turned on it WILL trip. But these are intermittent trips.
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Have you confirmed that you have a solid neutral and equipment ground connection?
Are the non AFCI protected circuits tripping.
Are the GFCI only protected circuits tripping.
If you are dealing with metallic connectors and boxes, the neutral wire could be pinched but not breaking through the insulation to expose the bare wire. This could cause the AFCI CB to trip randomly. To add to the confusion, if on a switched circuit load such as lights or receptacles it could trip randomly after the switch is closed.
 
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