[tomwed]

Originally Posted by Villager Joyce

I have had a toilet flush on its own, but never three at the same time. Could be because I have never owned a three bathroom home.

Well that's something. But if this continues at the end of the season I'm going to enter the Tidy Bowl. I can't wait to see the Ring.

[jimbo2012]

maybe when the circuit breaker trips it flushes the toilet, it called a no touch flush

[tomwed]

Originally Posted by jimbo2012

maybe when the circuit breaker trips it flushes the toilet, it called a no touch flush

how about a nuisance flush?

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by jimbo2012

Are the breakers tripping the Eaton afci, they have a small white button on them?

those are the ones that tripped in my home (but only once), interesting all of those about 6 or 7 not any of the others.

If so then maybe Eaton brand is the issue?

By the way the term for this is called "nuisance tripping"

The color of the button could be the common denominator that is easy for the homeowner to see. It might be a run that was done during a certain time period. I read something about older ones having yellow buttons. Glancing through this thread, it seems like the houses having problems were built around the same general time -- unless I missed something.

SECO or warranty or whoever should contact Eaton. Eaton will know.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by missypie

We live in Village of Fernandina and several neighbors including myself have had our breakers trip last night and again this morning. This hasn't happened since May but has started in again. I worry most for the feeble elderly that have to go into their garages every time to fix it. Someone is doing something to make this happen. We need some answers please.

I retired from a very large electric utility. I can tell you that the tripping of a breaker can happen due to ham operation. In fact it happened to me in the villages in my own home. When checking out the breakers first, I realized that the villages put in the cheapest breakers they could find. I replaced all the breakers with new ones and the problem was solved. Yes, it does cost quite a bit to do that. However fighting with a person with a ham set. Will only create more problems. Not the best fix in the world but given the junk in your electric box you may want to do it anyway. Just my thoughts.

[missypie]

I have contacted home warranty, Seco and Pikes electric. Why should I pay for new breakers because of a Ham radio? Dig deep, I'll plug away at this.

[howardandsheila]

Originally Posted by Gerald

I retired from a very large electric utility. I can tell you that the tripping of a breaker can happen due to ham operation. In fact it happened to me in the villages in my own home. When checking out the breakers first, I realized that the villages put in the cheapest breakers they could find. I replaced all the breakers with new ones and the problem was solved. Yes, it does cost quite a bit to do that. However fighting with a person with a ham set. Will only create more problems. Not the best fix in the world but given the junk in your electric box you may want to do it anyway. Just my thoughts.

Thanks Gerald. Can you giVe me a ballpark idea of what "it cost quite a bit to do that" is? Think I will replace the problem breakers, as we have had three of them popping at odd times since we moved to sanibel last year.

[villagetinker]

Typical cost of AFCI breakers are $50 to $70 each, you should be able to check a Home Depot or Lowes. Take a photo (cell phone) of your existing breakers and take it with you to the store to get the correct make and model.

BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU ARE DOING THIS YOUR SELF, my suggestion, turn off the main breaker first! also, do one breaker at a time, match wiring between old and new breakers.
Hope this helps.

[tag460]

Summary of a letter from SECO I received today: The problem with breakers tripping appears to be inherent to homes located in Grid Area EL98au-The Villages north of SR44 and south of 466A. The brand of breakers is Eaton AFCI's and were originally installed by the builder and the cause was ham radio equipment. Members who experience AFCI breaker issues repeatedly are encouraged to contact The Villages Home Warranty Department.

I contacted The Villages Home Warranty Department for the second time. The first time I called when this first happen and they could not assist me because my house was over a year old. This time Home Warranty was aware of the problem and they are sending out the Contractor who installed the breakers. I will let you know what Exceptional Electric says.

[Lpierleo]

Will be very curious as to what electrician says as our home is over the warranty period and we have also received the same letter from Seco today. Thank you

[Villager Joyce]

We are in hillsborough. Our breakers tripped at 9:15 pm last night 9/23. Will call warranty this am. Received SECO letter yesterday.

[RickeyD]

Something tells me this SECO letter will bring about mass circuit breaker panic and the inevitable replacement of all Eaton AFCI breakers if they trip or not.

[Boomer]

U

Originally Posted by tag460

Summary of a letter from SECO I received today: The problem with breakers tripping appears to be inherent to homes located in Grid Area EL98au-The Villages north of SR44 and south of 466A. The brand of breakers is Eaton AFCI's and were originally installed by the builder and the cause was ham radio equipment. Members who experience AFCI breaker issues repeatedly are encouraged to contact The Villages Home Warranty Department.

I contacted The Villages Home Warranty Department for the second time. The first time I called when this first happen and they could not assist me because my house was over a year old. This time Home Warranty was aware of the problem and they are sending out the Contractor who installed the breakers. I will let you know what Exceptional Electric says.

In 2013 the national association for hams (ARRL) was working with Eaton after this problem was reported with a certain design. At that time Eaton had a new design in the works. My guess is this problem has been corrected now and the houses being hit just happen to fall into the time period of the problematic design.

In the article I read, there was a reference to an older design with a yellow button that did not trip. The design that was tripping had a white button.

Eaton wanted to solve the problem. It was not the fault of the hams. ARRL is an influential organization with labs and Eaton is a respected company. They worked cooperatively.

Even though this has not affected my village, I certainly can understand the aggravation factor. But before getting to the point of Villagers taking up torches and pitchforks and going after hams, I hope someone will bring Eaton into this.

Remember the bad run of shingles a few years back that resulted in roofs being replaced at no cost. Could this be the same kind of thing? Bad timing? Bad run?

And if that is the case and the fault is with Eaton, might they replace that design at no cost?

If the gathered data points to Eaton's design, SECO or warranty needs to contact Eaton. -- Perhaps contact could be made in Morse Code.

Boomer

[Sable99]

I was just contacted by my property manager that my home on Oldsmar Terrace in the Village of Charlotte had several breakers trip Sunday or Monday. She was going to call an electrician but thanks to this thread she is going to call the Warranty Department and SECO fiirst.

[Villager Joyce]

Originally Posted by RickeyD

Something tells me this SECO letter will bring about mass circuit breaker panic and the inevitable replacement of all Eaton AFCI breakers if they trip or not.

I believe the SECO letter was sent only to people who contacted them about the breakers tripping.