AFCI Tripping

jbfan

Glad you found it.
I'm also glad the afci worked the way it was meant to work.

Go ahead and pay yourself $125 an hour for finding the problem!

__________________
Yes I am a Pirate, 200 years too late. "Jimmy Buffett"

GOLDBIO

This circuit made me very nervous when hooking up the rest of the afci's in the house. One more to finish tonight. Let's hope the last one goes smoothly. I was very surprised as to how well it worked. After all the research I did on AFCI's, I saw a ton of people who don't like them. Seems to me like as long as everything is the way it is supposed to be, they work properly.

Ocelaris

Good thread. I'm going to be hooking up some AFCIs in my house rewire and glad to see there really was a cause for concern and/or the AFCI detected it. So many threads about how much a PITA they are, but seems to give a level of comfort that everything is ok if the AFCI is happy. Not that it's a catchall, but certainly better than nothing.

GOLDBIO

I'm telling you...After reading all the threads about how much of a PITA they are, I was nervous as hell to hook up the rest. I have 4 total. The rest went off without a hitch. I think a big part of people complaining about them has to do with how much more expensive they are. I think there were some legitimate gripes with them when they first came out years and years ago though. While it was PITA the find the problem and pretty frustrating that it was with the brand new fan I bought, I was glad in the end to know it worked properly.

sixspeed

Who is the manufacturer/brand of this fan unit??

With poor quality assurance or inspection, they may have a problem on their hands...

GOLDBIO

Harbor Breeze. I thought they generally made decent stuff. Not a top of the line fan, but not bought a Wal-Mart either. I would have taken it back to exchange it, but taking it apart and trying to figure out how it went back in the box seemed like more trouble than it was worth.

sixspeed

...made in China.

Looks like the manufacturer has a recall history:

http://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2012/Exh...nics-Dongguan/

GOLDBIO

LOL, what isn't made over there? I try my best to avoid stuff made in China, but these days, it is almost impossible to avoid. I see that the recall was for a bathroom fan and light. I will have to check the model of the fan when I get there tonight and see if there are any recalls. I am assuming it came damaged. I guess there is always the possibility that it was damaged during installation, but I doubt it. It is amazing how many wires are in those zip ties and how unbelievably tight they are!!

sixspeed

Your incident shouldn't go unreported.

Imagine if your defective unit was installed by someone else, in a nursery with a newborn, that did not have the same kind of circuit protection you have...

(off-topic: hope you have functioning smoke/CO detectors installed too! )

GOLDBIO

I do. One in each bedroom and one in the hallway, oh yeah, one in the basement. This is the first job I have ever pulled permits for. I am truly glad I did. I got to learn how to do electricity, the one thing I wasn't fully confident with. Rewired the entire house. The detectors are all hard wired with battery backups. Not to brag, but the inspector came by for the rough in, looked at everything, and said, "looks better than most professional jobs I see." Didn't have me change one thing. Now let's hope the same thing happens for the final.

I will talk to my wife and shoot Harbor Breeze an email or something. I agree that someone else shouldn't have to deal with the same problem. Hopefully it was just a fluke thing. Unfortunately, it usually takes a couple fires or something tragic to actually get recalls done.

atxpackfan

As several have stated, this definetely needed to be diagnosed and repaired and you stuck with it like a good hounddog! I can't believe the cheap crap we put up with from China....this is just one small example.

Again, well done!

silversport

Goldbio, does your shop vac still trip the AFCI breaker?

GOLDBIO

No, it doesn't. My miter saw will though . I am assuming since the circuit is just 15 amps and the initial start up of the saw draws a lot of power that is the cause.