Odd electrical issue

[Truefire]

Thanks Ethan. Very helpful.

Brian- I realize I took your thread over into left field. I did so after realizing your issue was seemingly resolved. :wink_smil

 

[charlessenf]

First off, the GFCI Breaker is a (literal) snap to replace. You remove two wires, pop the breaker out, pop the replacement into its place, replace the two wires and you are done. Now, if there is a MAIN BREAKER in the panel and you don't mind resetting all the clocks in your house, flip it off first - a safety measure that I have and have not used when doing this operation many times over the years. I am the guy who regularly replaces switches, outlets and fixtures while the subject circuit is hot - you may not be so comfortable first time out.

You can replace the GFCI Breaker with a normal breaker of the same Amperage rating - just connect the BLACK lead for this test and ignore the other. If this breaker accepts the load, then either purchase the expensive GFCI replacement or replace the first outlet in the circuit with a GFCI Outlet and run the other two from it (to be protected)'

A GFCI device 'detects' a 'Ground Fault.' That is, a connection as between the HOT and any Ground - most especially a Human Ground and is designed to be relatively sensitive to such an event (so as not to shock a human to distress or worse.

As such, a 'DAMPNESS' in one of the exterior fixtures (or in any electrical box on the circuit) could cause the GFCI to trip and it is conceivable that it might not trip if there was no load on the circuit. I have NOT experienced this situation.

Thus, my first thought was that the Exterior lamp fixtures might be the culprit. Then, you wrote "I have opened up what I believe is the first outlet in the circuit, " However you did NOT confirm your supposition - that is, you did not indicate that "unhook(ing) the outgoing connections to disable the rest of the circuit" actually worked - did you verify that the overhead light, remaining outlets and the exterior fixtures were 'powerless' after this?

Without an answer to this question, it is difficult to provide a solution.

 

[ehpoole]

Just a reminder that this discussion concerns AFCI breakers and not GFCI, each reacts to very different fault types.

 

[wbwufpack]

@ Truefire - Not a problem at all. It has been interesting reading the responses to your questions.

@charlessenf - I did verify that the rest of the circuit was dead once I unhooked the outgoing connections. Before doing this I thought the exterior light was the most likely culprit.

I contacted Eaton about filing a warranty claim and they instructed me to go through wherever I purchased the replacement breaker to get reimbursed. I took the old breaker up to Lowes, explained the situation to customer service, and the lady did a full refund. I am not really sure if she was supposed to issue the refund or if she was supposed to start a claim using another method. I honestly think she was just taking the path of least resistance by issuing the refund but I wasn't going to argue since I got my money back.

 

[patlaw]

But the real problem is that AFCIs were rushed into service at a time when they were still largely experimental and that has forced every homeowner whose home was built in the last 10-12 years to be a Guinea pig for their continued development and it is often the homeowner that has to foot the bill for the troubles that has created. Eventually they will be as reliable as most GFCIs, which have undergone many decades of development, but they are not quite there yet and still have a ways to go.

What Ethan said. From what I've seen, brand new houses are having horrible problems with AFCI breakers. There are lawsuits galore. If you turn off the main breaker, you can troubleshoot the problem fairly easily by swapping or replacing breakers.

Never assume the power is off. Test it. Some idiot electrician's helper could have improperly wired the panel.