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Anon879b2
Anon
2016-Sep-20 3:14 pm
[Electrical] New Custom Home - Breakers Tripping DAILY throughout houseWe moved into our custom built home in July and have been experiencing breakers tripping almost daily. It's throughout out the house (master bedroom, living room, rec room, laundry room, kitchen) not always in the same place. One night it affected our gas cooktop so that the gas turned on, but no igniter. (Definitely not safe.) The electrician told us they had inadvertently installed faulty Square D breakers and came out this morning to replace them all. An hour after they left, I turned on my living room TV for 5 minutes before the breaker in that room tripped. Thoughts? Advice?? The frustration is mounting. |
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Anon3823b
Anon
2016-Sep-20 3:36 pm
get a new electrician. |
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 Ken
MVM
join:2003-06-16
Markle, IN |
to Anon879b2
said by Anon879b2 :The electrician told us they had inadvertently installed faulty Square D breakers and came out this morning to replace them all. Sounds more like they installed counterfeit breakers. Are the breakers that are tripping AFCI, GFCI, AFCI/GFCI combo, or normal breakers? |
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Anon879b2
Anon
2016-Sep-20 4:07 pm
They are combo breakers. |
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 bobbagelsJust Another Scorpion Mechwarrior
Premium Member
join:2000-11-15
Matawan, NJ |
to Anon879b2
Faulty Square D breakers? All of them?
How so?
I mean, what makes every breaker in a new panel faulty?
Something aint right.
Here in Jersey the code is Arc fault for living areas (bedrooms/living rooms/dining rooms) and they are expensive breakers. No Tandems allowed any more.
But that has nothing to do with "every breaker is faulty" in a new panel. I've never seen that happen before.
If it was my house I would have my own electrician come in and take a look. |
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| bobbagels |
"They are combo breakers." As in Tandem breakers? » www.lowes.com/pd/Square- ··· 264ab869? |
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Anon879b2 to bobbagels
Anon
2016-Sep-20 4:24 pm
to bobbagels
That's the thing. These are the electricians our builder used to build the house and we're just wrapping up the project, though we've been living in the house for last 2 months. The breakers in question are AFCI/GFCI combo breakers. Bringing in new electricians is likely what we'll do next as these electricians can't seem to figure out the problem. |
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bobbagelsJust Another Scorpion Mechwarrior
Premium Member
join:2000-11-15
Matawan, NJ |
First, I am not an electrician, I am a contractor. And I do not know the exact reason this is happening. I only commented because the statement "all breakers were faulty" caught my eye. Just seemed very unusual to me. I mean, my electricians have installed many new panels for me and the only time I have ever heard of FAULTY breakers is when it comes to Federal Pacific. I mean, a breaker here a breaker there ok, but all of them? Anyway, here in Jersey those breakers are no longer allowed. Puts too much load on the panel. And that could be your problem, I donno. I do know those type of breakers you mentioned can be finiky sometimes, but again, all of them? I know there are some electricians here in this forum, that always seem to know everything, LOL, just like my wife !! I'm sure they will be along directly to add their comments  Anyway, good luck |
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Anon879b2
Anon
2016-Sep-20 4:55 pm
I appreciate the insight. Thank you!
Two more trips just since posting this thread, so time to call a new electrician... |
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nonymous (banned)
join:2003-09-08
Glendale, AZ |
to Anon879b2
Do they only trip when a device is turned on. Or do they trip under no load? |
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 SparkChaser
Premium Member
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA |
to Anon879b2
Is custom built as part of other homes? If so are they having problems? I hope the electricians on here can help. |
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Anon879b2 to nonymous
Anon
2016-Sep-20 5:02 pm
to nonymous
Yesterday morning, we were standing outside the laundry room when the lights in there tripped and went out. Nothing other than the lights were on. The same thing has happened to our living room overhead lights. Other times, it's in a room where a TV is on but it's not always or even usually the case. |
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| Anon879b2 |
to SparkChaser
No...it's a single built custom home. The builder had 3 other homes going up during the same time frame in other parts of the county, but not all with the same subs. |
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 Tursiops_GTechnoid
MVM
join:2002-02-06
Brooksville, FL
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Ask the contractor if the Electricians used the "Backstab" connections on the Outlets and Switches, or if they used the Screw Terminals... Backstab connections are quicker, but are nowhere near as reliable as wiring under the Screws. One Flaky Backstab connection is all it takes to Nuisance-Trip it's AFCI Breaker...  |
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TheMG
Premium Member
join:2007-09-04
Canada MikroTik RB450G
Cisco DPC3008
Cisco SPA112
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to Anon879b2
Are there any other homes nearby with AFCI breakers and are they experiencing any issues?
Any powerful radio broadcast stations nearby? Are you using any powerline networking devices?
Reason I'm asking this is that some AFCI breakers can be susceptible to RF interference of various sorts causing nuisance tripping. It's kind of rare especially with the newer breaker designs but if something is hitting just the right frequency or powerful enough, it can happen. |
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to Tursiops_G
Thank you! I'm going to ask. |
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| Anon879b2 |
Anon879b2 to TheMG
Anon
2016-Sep-20 6:15 pm
to TheMG
None of our neighbors are experiencing any of the same issues. There aren't any radio towers nearby, nor do we use powerline network adapters. We do have a new 4K TV in the rec room, but that's not the room that normally trips. |
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to Anon879b2
there are thousands of counterfeit square d breakers out there!. » www.schneider-electric.u ··· ics.page look here too. » www.google.com/?gws_rd=s ··· reakers+ |
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Anon2b994 to Anon879b2
Anon
2016-Sep-20 8:36 pm
to Anon879b2
Another possible cause of overall random tripping could be a loose or intermittent MAIN wire, from the breaker box anywhere back to the connection on the pole transformer, or farther. Especially a loose neutral wire. A related symptom might be bulbs blowing, dimming, flickering, etc.
If you have those symptoms, it can be dangerous, so also call the power company immediately.
Be sure you keep record of all this, written notes, and that the GC is notified in writing.
The govt will likely not issue a CO if they know of this problem. |
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Anon879b2
Anon
2016-Sep-20 8:43 pm
Thank you. That's great information. I haven't noticed flickering or blown bulbs but I do email the builder and electrician with specifics (time, location, anything in use and photos of the panel every time it happens.) Since it's so often, they're not thrilled. We just want a safe, usable house. |
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Tursiops_GTechnoid
MVM
join:2002-02-06
Brooksville, FL ARRIS TM1602
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You PAID them for a Safe, Usable (and CODE-COMPLIANT) house... If the GC or Subcontractor isn't Thrilled, that's THEIR problem. Hold their Feet to the Fire, and insist that you get what you Paid them for. |
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to Anon879b2
Give your local electrical inspector's office a call.
Politely explain what is happening and ask if they can or would send out someone to check your electrical system.
Some cities will do this while others refuse to second guess anything the city had "Passed" during prior inspections.
You could also ask the same inspector if they have a list of "approved" electricians and see if he/she will hint at one to fix your problems. Many will not offer suggested "fixers" as they don't want to be accused of favoritism.
You might also want to check with your real-estate attorney and see what you should do prior to calling in a second electrician, so you can verify and recoup the cost when things are fixed. Possibly even have the lawyer negotiate the general contractor into agreeing in advance to have a 3rd party electrician of your choice come in and fix things. |
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 janderso1Jim
MVM
join:2000-04-15
Saint Petersburg, FL |
to Anon879b2
First I would ask the builder why they thought the breakers were faulty
If there is a breaker batch/production problem it is possible that the replacements are also defective
I would ask the builder for a plan to resolve the problem
Because it is multiple circuits my first suspect is something common to all circuits such as
Your ground rod and connection between your ground rod and your breaker box
Loose connection in your breaker box
Wiring error in your breaker box
Wiring between transformer and your breaker box
Grounding at the transformer
Defective main breaker
Defective breaker box
Transformer/transformer wiring problem
Is your house wired with metal conduit? |
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to Anon879b2
something is definitely wrong here.
all breakers being defective? in a new house? not even a chance.
I'd be surprised to find 1 let alone a whole box of them.
I do "most" of my own wiring but im not an electrician, I would absolutely have a independent.
electrician come out and take a look, and I would then send the bill to your builder.
and If they put up a fight.. small claims court.
When they said all the breakers was bad right there they lost all credibility.
I would not let them touch my electric again unless they can give an excellent reason as to how that would even come about. |
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 nunyaLXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO |
to Anon879b2
New house? Tell the builder to figure it the fuck out. Now. At the end of the day, the GC is responsible. Let HIM pay for a new electrician.
SquareD are middle to lower in quality, but high in price. Therefore, they attract a lot of counterfeiters. I would want to know where the breakers were purchased - Ebay or the supply house?
Most likely though, it's a wiring issue. Something like they used 14/3 instead of 14/2/2. It stinks to high heaven like a MWBC neutral sharing situation. |
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 garys_2k
Premium Member
join:2004-05-07
Farmington, MI |
garys_2k
Premium Member
2016-Sep-22 11:42 am
said by nunya:It stinks to high heaven like a MWBC neutral sharing situation. I thought all MWBCs shared the neutral. No? |
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to Anon879b2
Probably not the case but I know of someone that had a similar situation and the electrician had stripped the romex sheathing by cutting across it with a utility knife also cutting the insulation of the conductors. |
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 leibold
MVM
join:2002-07-09
Sunnyvale, CA
ZyXEL P-663HN-51
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to garys_2k
said by garys_2k:I thought all MWBCs shared the neutral. Correct, but in order for a GFCI to monitor that the neutral current is equal to the hot current the neutral can't be shared with any other circuit. Therefore no MWBCs with GFCI or AFCI/GFCI combo breakers. |
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to Anon879b2
I don't have anything terribly useful to add, other than nuisance tripping of AFCI breakers seems to be a common problem. If you do some google searching on "afci nuisance tripping" you'll find plenty of discussions, etc.... As for what you can do about it, no idea other than everyone's suggestion to make your electrician figure it out. Here are a couple of links on the subject. » structuretech1.com/2016/ ··· reakers/The letters at the bottom of the following linked PDF are interesting to read as well. » structuretech1.com/wp-co ··· lity.pdf |
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 Msradell
Premium Member
join:2008-12-25
Louisville, KY |
to Anon879b2
AFCI breakers and outlets are a joke being played on homeowners by the electrical industry. The industry is the only one who likes or sees a need for them and that's only because they make money off them. There may be a few circuits where they add some degree of protection but overall art needed in residential settings. In higher voltage industrial applications arc faults are a major issue but it certainly isn't in residential settings. |
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