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Christopher, motors starter/capacitor could be faulty, wire circuit/breaker could be insufficient. motor could be faulty or wired incorrectly. Have motor checked out and ensure you are wiring correctly.
Check the attached links,instruction and guides, Good luck
"I hope this helped you out, if so let me know by pressing the helpful button. Check out some of my other posts if you need more tips and info." LEESON Electric Motor Trouble Shooting Chart Motor trips breaker Why http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=256105
Hi James, I'm an electrician and will try to help you out with this problem.
An AFCI combination breaker is a type that will open a circuit when either condition exists: (1) A sustained current (in amps) load greater than 80% of the breaker's rating is present for a predetermined length of time. Your 15 amp breaker should hold a 12 amp load 24 hours / day; but a 13 amp load may only be passed for several hours - a 15 amp load only a few minutes or a 17 amp load only a few seconds and (2) Whenever the internal circuitry of the breaker sees load disturbances that mimic an arcing short circuit as programmed by the manufacturer.
Since you have lowered the load on the circuit in question, it is probably not an overload condition, but rather a problem with the remaining items on the circuit or wiring in the home. I suspect that you did not remove the lamps from the fixtures and wonder if you you are using CFL (compact fluorescent lamps) in them. Some CFLs and regular fluorescent lamps can "look" like an arcing short (esspecially when fisrt turned on) and cause a false positive for this condition. Remove any / all florescent lamps (or leave the switches off). Also, make sure any motor loads are disconnected, too. The motors that have "brushes" (looks like little sparks inside) can have the arcing signature that the AFCI thinks is a problem. Once you've cleared all these items, try again.
If it still won't hold, you may have a bad AFCI breaker. You should not attempt replacement if you do not know what you're doing in the panel. This will be your lowest cost fix. If the problem still won't go away, you're going to need to spend some time (or money on an electrician) checking all the connections at each outlet, switch, fixture, junction box, etc. to find the source of the fault. In rare instances, the fault may be a result of supporting staples being driven to hard during construction of the building.
The GFCI test / reset operations have nothing to do with an AFCI tripping condition, as they work completely different from each other.
I'm an electrician and can help you out with this problem. A tripping arc fault breaker is an indication of a problem with the circuit that will need to be corrected before it can be reset.
The first thing to do is remove all the cord-connected devices from the outlets. This will help in a couple of ways - the first will is that the load on the circuit will be reduced if the tripping is the result of an over-current condition; and will also remove any device that is mimicking the type of arcing trouble the circuit breaker is designed to detect. After all the devices have been removed, reset & turn on the circuit breaker. This means the handle must be pushed to the OFF position fully, and then pressed in the opposite direction to the ON position. If the breaker stays on, begin plugging the cord-connected devices back into the outlets. If the breaker trips, disconnect the last device plugged in, and turn the breaker back on as described above.
You should have the device that caused the trip thoroughly checked before connecting to your home's wiring.
If the breaker tripped before plugging in the cord-connected devices, check fixtures - fluorescent in particular. Older arc fault breakers often confused fluorescent fixtures as dangerous arcs problems. You should disconnect them / remove lamps and try again.
If still unable to get the breaker to stay on, there may be a problem with the breaker or the wiring. You can check the breaker after first removing the load wire from the breaker terminal - but I caution against doing this if you are not completely familiar with working with breakers and live voltages found in an electrical panel.
A qualified electrician should be called to solve the problem for you if you have followed the steps above without any luck.
You should not have multiple GFCI devices in any one circuit. Change out the outlet and label it GFCI Protected if necessary...Your problem of nuisance trips should go away.
First, check the outlet that it's plugged into, to make sure that there's still power to the outlet. If there isn't, then the circuit breaker for that outlet has been tripped, in your home's circuit breaker panel. Leave the dehumidifier unplugged and reset the circuit breaker. If it trips again, without the dehumidifier unplugged, then the outlet is at fault. Perhaps there's a loose wire connection or the interior of the outlet is cracked.
If it didn't trip without the dehumidifier plugged in, plug the unit it in,. But, before you do, make sure the dehumidifier's Master ON/OFF Switch is OFF. Once it's plugged in, turn the Master ON/OFF Switch to ON and set your controls. If it runs now, GREAT! If it trips the circuit breaker again, there's either a short in the power cord or an internal electrical short. Which will require extensive troubleshooting to find.
Hope this helps you solve the problem. Please let me know. Thanks.
When circuit breaker trips, all the outlets and devices on it shut off, so I'm not sure what it is that you are unable to reset if only 1/2 of these devices are off. I suspect a GFI outlet has tripped, not the AFCI circuit breaker.
Make sure that there isn't a tripped GFI outlet somewhere. Look at all the outlets for a RESET button that has popped out. These outlets usually have two buttons: TEST and RESET. Press the RESET button firmly in on any outlet found with this button. These devices will only protect downstream outlets, so it is possible for part of the circuit to work and the rest not - due to the tripped GFI. If you can't reset a GFI, simply replace it and carefully replace the wires exactly as the original. Pay attention to the wires at the LINE and LOAD terminals.
An arc fault breaker that will not reset has either failed and will need to be replaced, or has detected a condition in the wiring, outlets and connected devices or appliances that prevents it from being reset.
Disconnect all devices that are plugged into all the affected outlets and attempt to reset. If a reset is possible, turn back to off and plug one device in and reset again. If a reset is possible, turn back off and remove the device plugged in and plug in a different device. Continue in this manner until all the devices have been checked. A device that prevents a reset or causes a trip should be professionally serviced before reintroducing to the circuit.
If unable to reset, there is a problem with the breaker, outlets or the wiring. You should check each outlet and make sure the wire connections are made up tight. A loose connection will be detected by arc fault breakers and trip. If your outlets are connected by wires inserted into holes on the back of the outlet, remove or cut them close to the outlet and connect to the terminals screws instead one at a time to prevent "mixing up which wire goes where".
If it still won't reset, check to see if there are any light fixtures that do not work. You'll probably have to check the connections for those, too.
If none of these steps solves your problem you'll probably have to call an electrician to make repairs to wiring.
I hope this helps & good luck! Please rate my reply "4 thumbs up" if you found it helpful - thanks.
The reason why the breaker stays tripped is a result of a direct short. Unplug every electrical device plugged into an outlet in both rooms and try the breaker. If it stays on, individually start plugging in each device until the breaker trips, that is the defective device. If the breaker stays tripped, start checking wall outlets for short circuits with an ohm meter. If you did not find a short, check your hard wired lamps and appliances for shorts. If you did not find any shorts the only other problem is a shorted pair of wires in the wall or ceiling. You will need to disconnect any hard wired lamps and appliances and check for shorts between individual pairs of hot (black) and neutral (white) then hot and ground. I have a short circuit finder, but you do not need one because the technology is not perfect and you may have to manually check for shorts with a meter anywaywhich never lies.
My arc fault breaker trips in my bedroom when ever a load is put on line. The trunk line comes into a three gang switch box and feeds the entire room. At times I can turn my ceiling fan and light on for 10 to 20 minutes before the breaker trips. Other times the breaker will trip when either switch is first turned on. I plugged a 4 watt night light in a wall receptical, without the ceiling light or fan on, it also trips the breaker. I have had other plug in lamps, 60 watt, work in other recepticals for a while. The problem seems to appear in all recepticals and lighting in the room.
Are there any heaters anywhere in the circuit for this breaker? (ie: bathroom fan w/light and heater) If yes, I would suspect and inspect them first. Also,any type breaker will trip more easily if the electrical connection screws on the breaker are not tight enough...check to make sure that's not the case.
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