Hello. I am having a very interesting problem with arc fault breakers. We have arc fault breakers in our panels according to code, and everything is up to par (so the builder claims). However, we are having a very interesting problem.
First, a little background.
We have a 200A main panel and 2 100A sub-panels. Both sub panels go directly back to the main panel via 2-2-2-4 aluminum wire, and I know both sub panels are wired correctly as I wired them myself.
The main panel was completely wired by our builder's electrician, and did everything but the 2 sub panels. He installed arc fault breakers everywhere they were needed, and everything looks correct.
Now, for the problem. If one of the circuits in the sub-panel in our basement has an arcing problem (bad light switch in the circuit), instead of the arc fault that the switch is wired through tripping, arc fault breakers in the main panel trip instead. These breakers have nothing to do with the circuit that was actually arcing except for the fact they come from the same electrical main.
What concerns me is, like I said, the switch is on an arc-fault breaker that tests just fine with its built in test button. Why is that breaker not tripping? Why is it causing other breakers in the house to trip instead? Did our builder's electrician really mess something up in the main panel?
Also, as a side note, one of the breakers in the main panel that trips when the switch on a different circuit arcs has tripped a lit ever since the house was built. For a while, it was almost 2 times a week we would be resetting that breaker. It has not had a problem though for almost 3 months, which we thought was caused by us getting a high-end surge suppressor for our AV equipment. However, it makes me wonder if the real problem is that something is not wired correctly, and the AFCI's are either not tripping when they should be, or are tripping because something else is arcing.
Does anyone have any ideas for me asto why this could be?
I can provide any pictures that people require to see how things are wired!
Thanks!
First, a little background.
We have a 200A main panel and 2 100A sub-panels. Both sub panels go directly back to the main panel via 2-2-2-4 aluminum wire, and I know both sub panels are wired correctly as I wired them myself.
The main panel was completely wired by our builder's electrician, and did everything but the 2 sub panels. He installed arc fault breakers everywhere they were needed, and everything looks correct.
Now, for the problem. If one of the circuits in the sub-panel in our basement has an arcing problem (bad light switch in the circuit), instead of the arc fault that the switch is wired through tripping, arc fault breakers in the main panel trip instead. These breakers have nothing to do with the circuit that was actually arcing except for the fact they come from the same electrical main.
What concerns me is, like I said, the switch is on an arc-fault breaker that tests just fine with its built in test button. Why is that breaker not tripping? Why is it causing other breakers in the house to trip instead? Did our builder's electrician really mess something up in the main panel?
Also, as a side note, one of the breakers in the main panel that trips when the switch on a different circuit arcs has tripped a lit ever since the house was built. For a while, it was almost 2 times a week we would be resetting that breaker. It has not had a problem though for almost 3 months, which we thought was caused by us getting a high-end surge suppressor for our AV equipment. However, it makes me wonder if the real problem is that something is not wired correctly, and the AFCI's are either not tripping when they should be, or are tripping because something else is arcing.
Does anyone have any ideas for me asto why this could be?
I can provide any pictures that people require to see how things are wired!
Thanks!
