by Jerry Peck - Codeman on Wed May 18, 2011 5:36 pm
Does the AFCI trip when the equipment is plugged in, or when the equipment is turned on after plugging in?
I would first try another AFCI, just relocate one from another circuit in the panel and see if the new AFCI trips with that same equipment.
I would then try another AFCI protected circuit as there may be a circuit problem which is only detected after the equipment is plugged in/turned on - so another check would be to plug the same equipment into another AFCI protected circuit and see if that AFCI trips.
That kind of covers the tests you could make easily.
If the AFCIs are still tripping, then I would contact Siemens and the equipment manufacturers and see what they think the problem is - there should not be any compatibility problems if the breaker is good, if the equipment is good, and if the circuit is good
Jerry Peck - CodeMan
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Construction Litigation Consultant - Retired
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