An arc fault breaker is designed to protect your home from faulty electrical connections that could cause arcing or sparking. Arc fault breakers provide much more protection than standard circuit breakers and fuses, and they are required in all new construction.
Even though arc fault breakers offer more safety than traditional breakers, they are prone to tripping for a number of reasons. While they are designed to do this if they detect any safety issues, it does get annoying. Let’s take a look at why arc fault breakers trip and what you can do if it’s happening in your home.
Device Incompatibility
The most common cause of arc breaker trips is appliance and device incompatibility. Devices such as microwave ovens, space heaters, power tools, exercise machines, and even fluorescent lights can produce arc patterns that trip your arc fault breaker.
Overloaded Circuits
If you plug in a large electrical device or several smaller devices into one outlet, you can overload your circuits and cause your arc fault breaker to trip.
Poor Electrical Connections
Poor electrical connections caused by loose wires, damaged insulation, and exposed conductors can cause a large amount of electricity to flow through a circuit that can’t handle it. The circuit overloads, and the arc fault breaker trips. The breaker can also falsely trip if your wires aren’t hooked up to it correctly.
Too Much Moisture in Your Home
Damp wires can cause a short circuit, which will trip the breaker. This can happen if your roof is leaking or if you have a leaky pipe somewhere in your home. Moisture can also cause mold to grow, which brings plenty of other problems on top of interfering with your electrical connections.
Wear and Tear on Your Wires
Electrical wires corrode and deteriorate as they age. When they get too old, they can become brittle enough to crack and cause a voltage leak that can trip your arc fault breaker. Electrical wires typically last between 50 and 70 years, so consider having your home rewired if you know your home’s wiring is getting that old.
Damaged Insulation
The insulation on electrical wires can become damaged by rodents and other things in your home. It can also crack with age as we discussed above. When this happens, it leaves your wiring exposed, which can cause the aforementioned voltage leak that could trip your arc fault breaker.
A Damaged Arc Fault Breaker
Finally, the arc fault breaker itself can become damaged by multiple resets and circuit overloads. It isn’t very common, but it can trip falsely when it happens. This problem is more common in older arc fault breakers, so your breaker may need to be replaced if you have one too many false trips.
What to Do When Your Arc Fault Breaker Keeps Tripping
Even though most arc fault breaker trips aren’t due to an emergency, they still mean that there’s a problem somewhere in your home’s electrical system. If your arc fault breaker trips frequently, think about what is happening when the trips occur. It might be tripping whenever you try to use a certain appliance, or it could trip whenever you get a lot of rain. Make a note of when the breaker trips to find the cause and see if you can prevent it from happening again. If you think you’re overloading a circuit by plugging too many devices into an outlet, unplug everything and reset the arc fault breaker. If it doesn’t trip after a reset, you’ve found your culprit. Find other outlets that you can use for those devices, and make sure that you only plug devices into circuits that won’t overload them.
If you’re still having problems with your breaker even when you’re sure you’re not overloading your circuits, other factors might be in play. Look for any loose electrical connections and damaged wires that could be causing the breaker to trip. It could be as simple as a cable getting pinched by a badly placed piece of furniture and losing some of its insulation, or you might just have old wiring in your house that needs to be replaced. In any case, never try to repair electrical connections or replace wiring by yourself. Those are jobs that should always be left to a trained electrician.
Contact Mr. Sparky for Assistance
If you’re not sure what is causing your arc fault breaker to trip, don’t hesitate to contact Mr. Sparky for assistance. Our electricians can take a look at your breaker and your wiring to find and fix the problem quickly and efficiently.