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Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters
Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters Protect People
from House Fires Caused By Electrical Arcing
By Mark J. Donovan
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Arc fault circuit interrupters (AFCI)
are different from standard circuit breakers. Arc fault circuit interrupters are
specifically designed to turn off power to a circuit when they sense a
non-working electrical arc. A standard circuit breaker, on the other hand, is
meant to sense an overload circuit or a short circuit. The main purpose of arc
fault circuit interrupters is to prevent fires due to arcing. Tens of thousands
of fires are started in homes each year due to electrical wiring problems, and
much of the time the fires start due to electrical arcing.
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Arc fault circuit interrupters are
similar to ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) and residual current
devices (RCDs) due to the fact that they each have a test button to confirm the
interrupter is working properly. However, unlike arc fault circuit interrupters,
GFCIs and RCDs work to protect people from life threatening shocks.
An arc fault circuit interrupter is specifically designed to know the difference
between non-working arcs and common working arcs. A non working arc could
possibly occur via a broken wire in an appliance or lamp cord. Common working
arcs, on the other hand, occur when throwing a light switch, or inserting or
pulling a plug from an electrical outlet. They also occur in certain appliances
with motors, such as a vacuum cleaner, due to the arcing of the metal brushes
inside the motor.
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National Electrical Code (NEC) laws
now require that on all new construction the dwelling units within the home must
have installed arc fault circuit interrupters on 120 volt, single phase, 15 and
20 amp branch circuits. Dwelling units include bedrooms, living rooms, family
rooms, dining rooms, dens, libraries, sunrooms, closets, hallways, parlors or
equivalent home living spaces.
An AFCI continuously monitors a
circuit checking for and detecting erratic and reduced current loads on it.
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When an arc fault circuit interrupter
does detect a non-working arcing condition it trips and the power to the branch
circuit is shut off, thus preventing the risk of fire. AFCI’s are specifically
designed to prevent normal arc conditions from tripping it and shutting off
power to the branch circuit that it is installed on.
Though arc fault circuit interrupters are in theory an excellent protective
device, many homeowners and electricians have been frustrated with them and have
argued they are not ready for prime time deployment. Though AFCIs are supposed
to only detect non-working electrical arcs, they unfortunately do trigger
occasionally on standard working arcs. For example, certain appliances or normal
events often trip them. This leads to frustrated homeowners calling back
electricians to figure out what electrical device is causing the AFCI to trip
and in many cases replacing the AFCI altogether.
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