Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters

[Bill Jeffrey]

Anyone know anything useful about these?

A month ago, my brother moved into a 14-month-old house in central
Florida. All is well, meaning everything has worked as expected during
that month.

A few days ago, he had some guys in to begin installing a pool. One of
them plugged a big drill into an outdoor outlet, and spun the drill. All
was well until the load was applied to the drill (drilling into
concrete). The breaker for that circuit popped. This was not an AFCI
circuit.

After the guys finished up, my brother noted that power to the bedroom
outlets was out. He used a squeaker (non-contact voltage sensor) to nose
around, and discovered that ALL FIVE AFCIs in the breaker panel appear
to be defective. Defective meaning that no power comes out of the AFCI,
no matter how he fiddles with test button, reset button, and breaker
on-off handle.

Since everything worked before, we assume that the installation was done
correctly, and the problem is due to something that happened recently -
perhaps the drill incident, perhaps not. I cannot imagine any fault that
would trip all 5 AFCIs without tripping anything else. I cannot imagine
how the drill incident, on a separate circuit, could trip/destroy all
five AFCIs.

The big tornado a couple weeks ago was 20 miles north of them. Could a
lightning strike associated with that have caused the problem? Are these
things more sensitive to lightning surges than GFCIs, of which there are
several in the house?

Thanks for any thoughts

Bill Jeffrey

 

[Homer J Simpson]

After the guys finished up, my brother noted that power to the bedroom
outlets was out. He used a squeaker (non-contact voltage sensor) to nose
around, and discovered that ALL FIVE AFCIs in the breaker panel appear to
be defective. Defective meaning that no power comes out of the AFCI, no
matter how he fiddles with test button, reset button, and breaker on-off
handle.

Get someone to check it all out with a multimeter. I'd be looking at the
grounding etc for these, hard to see why they would all die like that.


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[Charles Schuler]

Anyone know anything useful about these?

A month ago, my brother moved into a 14-month-old house in central
Florida. All is well, meaning everything has worked as expected during
that month.

A few days ago, he had some guys in to begin installing a pool. One of
them plugged a big drill into an outdoor outlet, and spun the drill. All
was well until the load was applied to the drill (drilling into concrete).
The breaker for that circuit popped. This was not an AFCI circuit.

After the guys finished up, my brother noted that power to the bedroom
outlets was out. He used a squeaker (non-contact voltage sensor) to nose
around, and discovered that ALL FIVE AFCIs in the breaker panel appear to
be defective. Defective meaning that no power comes out of the AFCI, no
matter how he fiddles with test button, reset button, and breaker on-off
handle.

Since everything worked before, we assume that the installation was done
correctly, and the problem is due to something that happened recently -
perhaps the drill incident, perhaps not. I cannot imagine any fault that
would trip all 5 AFCIs without tripping anything else. I cannot imagine
how the drill incident, on a separate circuit, could trip/destroy all five
AFCIs.

The big tornado a couple weeks ago was 20 miles north of them. Could a
lightning strike associated with that have caused the problem? Are these
things more sensitive to lightning surges than GFCIs, of which there are
several in the house?

Did he verify that there is power going to the AFCIs?

 

[Captain Midnight]

Anyone know anything useful about these?

A month ago, my brother moved into a 14-month-old house in central
Florida. All is well, meaning everything has worked as expected during
that month.

A few days ago, he had some guys in to begin installing a pool. One of
them plugged a big drill into an outdoor outlet, and spun the drill. All
was well until the load was applied to the drill (drilling into
concrete). The breaker for that circuit popped. This was not an AFCI
circuit.

After the guys finished up, my brother noted that power to the bedroom
outlets was out. He used a squeaker (non-contact voltage sensor) to nose
around, and discovered that ALL FIVE AFCIs in the breaker panel appear
to be defective. Defective meaning that no power comes out of the AFCI,
no matter how he fiddles with test button, reset button, and breaker
on-off handle.

Since everything worked before, we assume that the installation was done
correctly, and the problem is due to something that happened recently -
perhaps the drill incident, perhaps not. I cannot imagine any fault that
would trip all 5 AFCIs without tripping anything else. I cannot imagine
how the drill incident, on a separate circuit, could trip/destroy all
five AFCIs.

The big tornado a couple weeks ago was 20 miles north of them. Could a
lightning strike associated with that have caused the problem? Are these
things more sensitive to lightning surges than GFCIs, of which there are
several in the house?

Thanks for any thoughts

Bill Jeffrey

Don't know but 20 miles isn't far for lightning.
Check with MFG. I know SqareD had a recall on some units. Probably older
than the house but who knows how old the units were when installed. Don't
recall what problem they had.

 

[Bill Jeffrey]

I'd be looking at the
grounding etc for these, hard to see why they would all die like that.

BINGO! Apparently these things are quite fussy about the
neutral-to-ground connection in the panel. The problem turned out to be
a slightly loose screw on the neutral bar. When my brother torqued it
down with a big screwdriver, everything came back to life.

Incidentally, the suggestion to do this came from the Licensed
Electrician at Home Depot. Who knew that Home Depot has ANYONE competent
on staff, let alone a licensed electrician?

Thanks

Bill