Re: Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <uncadoc-at-juno-dot-com>

Hi Richie, All.  Thank you for your post on the new fangled arc breakers.
 Ironically, your post is the only one on the list and you are located a
continent away!  I suspect most list members have no idea of what the
N.F.P.A. and N.E.C. codes are in this country.  As usual, I see that you
folks in England are quite far ahead of the times, even if your country
has not yet adopted the stringent new Arc Fault Breakers. This is why I
brought the subject up, since it has already proven its worth in my own
house.  Upon hooking up these new breakers, I had one that would not stay
energized.  We then substituted several other A.F.C.I. breakers to no
avail.  Only then did we realize that the new breaker was actually
sensing a fault.  We had a new 12/2wg cable run to the problematic
circuit and it cured the problem.  Obviously the old rubber and cloth
wiring had some sort of fault across ground and neutral(metal outer
casing perhaps) that an ordinary breaker would not sense. Makes one
wonder about the use of Tesla coils(ozone) in an older home with rubber
based circa 1900 to 1950 type cable.  I still wonder if my very long
Tesla runs may have contributed to the problem with this wiring. Again, I
thank you Richie for your fine observation!    Al.

On Fri, 09 Mar 2001 16:31:38 -0700 "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
writes:
> Original poster: "R.E.Burnett by way of Terry Fritz 
> <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <R.E.Burnett-at-newcastle.ac.uk>
> 
> 
> Hi AL and all,
> 
> Nobody seems to have jumped in here,  so I will offer what I know.
> 
> A couple of years ago I did some work for a company that were 
> developing
> a tester for "arc detecting circuit breakers". (They also make hand 
> held
> testers for checking conventional and Earth Leakage Breakers, etc.)
> 
> My understanding is that the arc detection circuit looks for RF 
> noise on
> the line at the instant when the load current goes through zero.  
> Arcs
> seem to become unstable when the current changes direction.  These
> breakers likely take advantage of this behaviour to give reliable 
> arc
> detection with good immunity to false trips.
> 
> At the time I was told that these breakers would quickly become 
> standard
> in the states so a method of testing them would be highly desirable.
> This is actually the first I have heard about them.  They don't seem 
> to
> have caught on over here yet.
> 
> This is about as much as I know about them,  however I would not be 
> too
> worried about damage to the actual circuit breaker.  They are built 
> to
> withstand equipment faults so it is unlikely anything you will do 
> could
> damage the breaker.  Make sure you use a good quality line filter to
> protect other appliances in your house ;-)
> 							Cheers,
> 
> 							-Richie,
> 
> 							(Newcastle 
> UK.)
> 
> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz
> <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <uncadoc-at-juno-dot-com>
> 
> Hi all.  I have installed four of the new Arc Fault circuit breakers 
> in
> my new upgraded home panelboard and I noticed that these things have 
> some
> sort of circuitry built into the breaker, as shown by a cutaway 
> picture
> on the instructions that comes with them.  I installed them because 
> of
> the old 1940 type metal sheathed BX style cable in some parts of the
> house, the old rubber was falling off the wires at the lighting 
> junction
> boxes, and I thought it would be a good move to get these things 
> since
> all new homes built starting in 2002 will require these breakers to
> comply with code.  Now I notice that the breakers are warm to the 
> touch
> even with no load across them, the little circuit in each breaker 
> must be
> drawing a parasitic current as it monitors the hot/neutral wiring.  
> But
> what I am concerned with is this:  Would my Tesla somehow destroy 
> these
> breakers or the discrete electrical components housed within the 
> breaker
> body?  These things are not cheap!  They cost $35.00 each for one 20 
> amp
> breaker.  Anyone on the list familiar with these new devices and any
> precautions I should take, aside from giving up the coiling hobby?  
> I am
> eventually going to have them on even the newer romex plastic cable 
> on
> all lines in the house and am looking at 12 single pole and 4 double 
> pole
> breakers and the double pole ones cost almost $100 each. Your advice 
> will
> be most welcome.  Thank you.   AL.   
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