[LB2848]

We had the problem with the vacuum causing the ARC fault breakers to trip. We had the circuits checked by an electrician and all was good. Now we leave a small surge protector plug on the vacuum cord and that solved the problem.

[Happinow]

Originally Posted by shcisamax

We are so far beyond that Gracie. TV is well aware. Apparently there are several issues on of which is if there is any ham radio within x amount of distance, houses have problems. The company that makes the breakers is trying to figure out what to do - they actually flew down from Pittsburg a couple weeks ago but they haven't been able to come up with a solution. It is a mess but we have electric people at our houses two to six times a week. It just goes on and on and I am getting very tired of it. I was trying to determine how many other people are finding the same irritation.

Our breaker in our living room trips when we plug the vacuum into it. We've already had one outlet rewired because WhenI turned it on it Had a sizzling sound. I have a feeling there is more of this to come.....

[andercat]

We owned a home with arc fault breakers in the bedrooms. (I think that is code in most locations now.) Only when I used my Kenmore vacuum would I trip the breakers in the bedrooms. Arc faults can be touchy. I had to get a new vacuum.

[2 Oldcrabs]

Originally Posted by shcisamax

By any chance do you have a ham radio operator in your area? If you do not know, can you ask Galaxy or Pike or...who do you use anyway? if there is a ham radio in your area. Thanks.

I had a conversion with the Galaxy foreman about the grounding method in TV. He told me the the Eaton engineer would contact me when they were coming. I guess they lost my information. I would have liked to talk to them. We have the 3rd generation Arc breakers. Myself & the neighbors with the extra ground rods are not having problems. When it comes to electricity, " grounding & connections" are most important.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

At our place in Ahia, we had an AFCI-tripping issue from Day One in the master bedroom of our home (new build in '08). Every time we'd switch on the ceiling fan......BAM! The breaker would trip. I spoke with the electrician who wired the house - he said it could be a number of things (as others have pointed out already in this thread) but said it was most likely the ceiling fan motor. I didn't feel like shelling out money to replace the fan on the supposition that it MIGHT be the culprit so I tried to isolate the problem. I checked all the wiring connections at the breaker and at the wall switch - everything was tight. I swapped out the AFCI breaker with one from another bedroom - same tripping problem. So it was likely not the breaker itself since the ceiling fan in the other bedroom was the same as the one in the master (though in reality it still could have been that particular fan). Next, I removed the existing wall switch and put in just a standard off-on toggle switch for the fan as a test....................no more tripping! So our problem was with the wall switch.

Our wall switch is a multi-function device - toggle to turn on the fan lights, a slide switch along one side of the toggle to brighten/dim the lights, and another slide switch along the other side of the toggle to control the fan off/on and variable speed. I ultimately swapped the original wall switch for an identical one in the den (which was not controlled by an AFCI) and all has been fine ever since with both circuits.

The thing that seems odd to me in TV is that the contractors are using AFCIs for so many types of circuits on the newest homes - lighting circuits, non-bedroom wall receptacle circuits, etc. Our patio villa (built in '07) only has them for the bedrooms wall receptacle circuits. That's the same as what we see on newer homes back in OH.

Bill

[mulligan]

The other part of the problem comes from the fact that there is no requirement to have a licensed electrician on the jobsite when the homes are being wired. They only have to have a licensed person (usually in the office) to sign permit applications. Most of the time it's not a problem, but if your home was wired by someone that was laying sod the week before, it could be an issue.

[shcisamax]

Originally Posted by mulligan

The other part of the problem comes from the fact that there is no requirement to have a licensed electrician on the jobsite when the homes are being wired. They only have to have a licensed person (usually in the office) to sign permit applications. Most of the time it's not a problem, but if your home was wired by someone that was laying sod the week before, it could be an issue.

Oh my.

[JeffAVEWS]

You are all having a problem with "ELI the ICE" man, this is not an easy fix for circuit protectors that "fast blow-trip" and it's going to take a engineer to figure it out and come up with a fix. IMHO

[doran]

Originally Posted by shcisamax

Does anyone else have their breakers tripping repeatedly?

we do and I noticed a letter from the electric company offering $25.00 to set up and an additional $5.00 per month for the service to provide additional
services so that this does not happen!!! My question why did they put bad service to begin with?????????

[getdul981]

Originally Posted by doran

we do and I noticed a letter from the electric company offering $25.00 to set up and an additional $5.00 per month for the service to provide additional
services so that this does not happen!!! My question why did they put bad service to begin with?????????

I believe what you are referring to is surge protection. Usually from lightning strikes near your home. Entirely different animal.

[graciegirl]

///

[raynan]

Originally Posted by shcisamax

By any chance do you have a ham radio operator in your area? If you do not know, can you ask Galaxy or Pike or...who do you use anyway? if there is a ham radio in your area. Thanks.

Don't know if there is a ham radio in the area. Will check with Pike.

[Steve Nagy]

I was having this problem in my living room. I replaced the expensive, hi-tech, overly sensitive breaker that came with the house with one of the regular old $5 breakers from HD. Problem solved.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by mulligan

The other part of the problem comes from the fact that there is no requirement to have a licensed electrician on the jobsite when the homes are being wired. They only have to have a licensed person (usually in the office) to sign permit applications. Most of the time it's not a problem, but if your home was wired by someone that was laying sod the week before, it could be an issue.

The electrical crew is not EVER the same as the sod crew here!

There is a separate isolated bunch who does each part of the building process. Dozens of crews who do the same thing each time.

It appears to be the new breakers required by CODE aren't working properly.

[getdul981]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

The electrical crew is not EVER the same as the sod crew here!

They all look alike.