[rjm1cc]

The above explanations are similar to what happened to me. I would look ARC's up on the internet and see if their are any suggestions you can do yourself. The basic problem is electricity is going from the electrical wire to a ground. This could be caused by the insulation being defective and the wire touching a metal stud. Other than that it could be the resistance in an electrical heater when it comes on. It could actually be the switch that turns on the heater and does not happen all the time.A motor starting could cause it.
I would try disconnecting everything on the circuit that you can an see what happens. If everything works then start reconnecting/turning on what you disconnected.

[dbussone]

Originally Posted by Hopeful2

Help please -

The electrician, who was supposed to come back the next day, never showed... We contacted him 3 times ...

Can someone recommend a competent, reliable electrician?

Thanks!

PIKE'S electric.

[SKIMAN]

had same trouble when we moved here 3 years ago. cause certain brand of 3way lite blubs. sounds stupid had home war. send out electrician said as weird as it sounds they had more trouble with the breakers an a certain 3way blub .changed fixed go figure

[villagetinker]

Personally I had an experience back up north, when during an electrical inspection, the inspector noticed the brand of circuit breakers in the house. He informed me that he knew insurance companies were cancelling coverage when they found out about these particular breakers (Zinco/Sylvania), as they had a nasty habit of not tripping. The entire electrical panel was replaced the next week.
So IMHO, I would never replace an ARC fault breaker with a regular breaker. One other item, it may actually be illegal to do that as you would be violating the building code.

[dirtbanker]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

He informed me that he knew insurance companies were cancelling coverage when they found out about these particular breakers .... it may actually be illegal to do that as you would be violating the building code.

Canceling coverage is not to be confused with declining to pay a claim on policy for an electrical fire that has occurred...

I wonder how the insurance company would know if you had the defective brand of breakers, maybe it was a question on the disclosure sheet (or maybe the guy just lied to sell a new breaker panel)?

I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for building code violations, I wonder how many years the average sentence is, and if those are served in a maximum security prison?

[villagetinker]

Originally Posted by dirtbanker

Canceling coverage is not to be confused with declining to pay a claim on policy for an electrical fire that has occurred...

I wonder how the insurance company would know if you had the defective brand of breakers, maybe it was a question on the disclosure sheet (or maybe the guy just lied to sell a new breaker panel)?

I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for building code violations, I wonder how many years the average sentence is, and if those are served in a maximum security prison?

I agree, cancelling is different from not paying a claim, but it might give the insurance company a reason to not pay.
The person that pointed out the bad breakers was the county electrical inspector. I did not push the point, as I was able to verify with UL that these breakers had been delisted due to problems. I do not know if a report would have been filed as a result of the observation of the electrical inspector, it was my choice to have the entire panel replaced. (Note there were no replacement breakers for this particular style of breaker.)
And while I agree it is rare that a homeowner gets prosecuted for building code violation, building owners (apartments, etc.) get caught all the time, so it may be possible.

The bottom line here is hire the electrician to find out why the ARC fault breaker is tripping, do not replace with another type of breaker, and do not ignore the problem.