[marennorge]

Last night, something tripped the circuit breaker for the master bedroom. I went out to the garage and turned the circuit back on...or so I thought when I returned to the bedroom and the lights still weren't on. I went back out to the box and noticed a square button to the right of the breaker switch. I pushed that button and that made the lights come back on.

I've never seen that type of push button in a breaker box. Is it a special breaker for smoke alarms? I noticed the circuit breaker for the guest bedroom has that push button, too. Does the fact that the breaker had tripped indicate something wrong with the smoke alarms?

Thanks.

[Dick and Lin]

Same problem here with two breakers. One tripped when using the vacuum cleaner and one tripped when general lighting was on. It seems, by talking to a Galaxy Electric person, that these new breakers were released prematurely to comply with some local code. The Galaxy person changed my two breakers with the last issue and recorded it in a dairy that he had. When the latest breakers are released and working properly, he will return and replaced the two that he previously installed.

Problem corrected so far.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

More than likely, that's an arc-fault (AFCI) breaker.........not to be confused with a ground-fault (GFCI) breaker.

Here's a reasonable explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc-fau...it_interrupter

Bill

[skip0358]

They are arc fault breakers. Anything with a motor could trip along with several other electrical items as they're more sensitive then other breakers and are placed in bedrooms for extra protection to sleepers. I had the problem when we first moved in and was told by my electrican that motor powered items should be plugged into power strips including my paper shreader.

[getdul981]

If you ask them, they will give you a little device that looks like a small surge protector that you can plug your vacuum into and then you can plug that into any recepticle. It's a PITA to keep up with this little thingie, but we just leave it on the vacuum. If I ever need it for something like an electric drill or something, I know where to find it. We have not had a problem with the shredder. Maybe that circuit isn't an AFCI.

[Debfrommaine]

We experienced same when using the computer - very frustrating. Electrician here 3 times - happened in den and then third bedroom. We got a laptop, no issues - the surges blew the desktop!

[getdul981]

That sounds like defective breakers.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by getdul981

That sounds like defective breakers.

It can be. But on the other hand, some types of electrical motors, for example, can 'naturally arc' more than others which will confuse some breakers.

Sometimes it can be a switch problem: We have a ceiling fan in our bedroom her in OH that would constantly trip the AFCI breaker whenever you'd turn the wall switch for the fan on. It's a variable speed fan control with a light dimmer control built into it as well. Not an inexpensive switch......and it's a name brand item. After doing some testing and trial-and-error things, it turns out that it was the wall switch that was the problem - I swapped it out for an identical fan-and-light wall switch from another room that's not on an AFCI breaker.............and now the breaker in the bedroom no longer trips! Fan and light both work fine.

Bill