Wired a kitchen dining room n mushroom all on arc fault breakers when I test my outlets hot to ground it trips, any thoughts to why

you have a short in the unit need a meter to test and check or send out for repair

Check your circuit breakers for a kitchen circuit that is off. Most range hoods are wired to a different circuit than the cooktop/range. Next check if any nearby GFCI (ground fault) or AFCI (arc fault) outlets aren't working. If the outlets have test/reset buttons, try to reset them. Warning: if these repeatedly trip, there may be a leak getting to your wiring (GFCI) or an insulation problem or loose wire that is causing a potential fire risk. Alternatively the outlets could be damaged and need to be replaced.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells
(My range hood is wired to a lighting circuit. Thus it's not on a GFCI circuit. However, your wiring could be different.)

That was the sound of arcing electricity. Most likely the fixture is shot...replace the wiring and the sockets and you should be fine.

Hi,

If your arc fault breakers are tripping, then there is an arc developing somewhere along the line from the panelboard to the rooms that the breakers cover. If they are breaking in more than one room, then the fault lies in the lines somewhere between the panel and junction to these rooms.
You would have to trace the line from the panel to each light/outlet until you find the problem. Remember the arcing could be occurring anywhere, in the line, at the light, or at the outlet.
Your brother should be able to check each section of wire for continuity rather than ripping out all the wires in those circuits.

Hope this helps. If it does, I'd appreciate a 4 thumbs up. Thanks,

Handie Andie

Hi, these ground fault Interupter or AFCI breakers are made for normally outdoor circuit and and circuits around water such as your bathrooms. I would turn each one off, take a screw driver and make sure each terminal to each breaker is good and tight. You say this is a new home, so it makes since this is a problem. This can be done safely, as with the breakers off the screw terminals are dead, always be safe though when working around high voltage. If you continue to have this problem, you would have no other choice than to get a qualified Elect. out to see if they have your G.F.I breakers wired on the right circuits? This sounds to me this also may be your problem. They are made to trip around sinks with lets say your lady of the home using a blow dryer on her hair and there is a slight voltage leak in the cord of the appliance? This is when the breaker should trip due to the chance of shock!!

AFCI's can be a real pain, as I'm sure you know.

First, no offense, but check to see if the AFCI is wired correctly. The (usually coiled) white wire that is permanently attached to the breaker connects to the neutral bus bar in the electric panel. The white wire that goes out to the circuit is attached to the "white" (or "neutral") terminal _on_ the breaker. That is _very_ important. The hot wire
that goes out to the circuit is attached to "hot" terminal on the breaker. The bare equipment grounding wire that goes out to the circuit is also connected to the neutral bus bar (IF this is the MAIN electric service panel) If it is a sub-panel, the neutral bar should be isolated from the equipment grounding bar.

Second, unplug everything, turn off all lights, and remove any smoke detectors on the circuit, then see if the breaker holds. If it holds, plug things back in one by one until something trips the breaker.

Remember that if there are smoke detectors on the circuit that smokes are usually interconnected (if one goes off, they all go off). So you will have to pull other smokes in other rooms too.

If it doesn't hold, read on.

Determine which outlets and lights, including smoke detectors are on the circuit. The outlet closest to the electric panel is probably the first outlet. Go to the approximate 1/2 way point in the circuit, pull out the receptacle, take note how it is wired, then remove all the wires from the receptacle and separate them so they aren't touching anything, including the bare equipment ground wires. You don't want _any_ wires feeding downstream. This means you will probably have to remake the equipment grounding wires connection with a wire nut when done.

Turn on the breaker and see if it holds. If it doesn't hold, then go 1/2 way upstream and repeat. If it holds, then go 1/2 way downstream. And so on.

Also, remember that the bare equipment grounding wires and the white neutral wires are ONLY bonded together ONCE at the MAIN electric panel. They should never be connected together after they leave the MAIN electric panel, so look for that too.

Good luck.

I have a couple of things for you to check or rule out. Today, a refrigerator is required by electrical code to be connected to a dedicated, 15 amp outlet because the newer fridges are more efficient and use less than 12 amps. Not long ago, a dedicated 20 amp outlet was required because the older fridges were rated to use 12 amps or more (but less than 16 amps) and needed the larger size circuit. A 20 amp circuit breaker or fuse should not open for any standard residential fridge under normal operating conditions. A 15 amp circuit breaker or fuse _MAY_ open if an older fridge (needs 12 amps of more) is connected. Make sure that if a circuit is opening at the fuse or breaker, it is not because there are several appliances or devices in use and on the same circuit as the fridge.

The same holds true for "ground fault" and "arc fault" type circuits. If an older fridge is connected to such a circuit - nuisance tripping may result. Most newer fridges however shouldn't cause a problem on these circuits. Ground fault circuits have a "test" button on the circuit breaker or, "test" and "reset" buttons on an outlet providing this protection. Arc fault circuit protection is available only in circuit breakers (as of this time - but may become available as outlets some time in the future).

If you need to to try to isolate the problem on a 20 amp circuit, disconnect all other appliances on the other 20 amp circuits in the kitchen and dining room, then see if the fridge stays running. Alternatively, you could use a heavy duty extension cord to connect the fridge to a known isolated 20 amp circuit to see if the fridge runs. This is meant only to troubleshoot - the fridge should not be left connected via extension cord for normal operation.

If you still have tripping, you might need to have the fridge professionally serviced, as a ground fault could be a dangerous condition left unchecked.

Please rate this replay id found to be helpful - good luck!

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 anyway which never lies.

GFCI receptacles are polarized and connecting them correctly is critical. The hot wire should be black, blue, red, etc. The neutral should be white or natural gray. The ground should be green (if equipped).

Also, it's common to have other receptacles in a kitchen wired "downstream" of a GFCI so that if the GFCI trips or there is an issue with another non GFCI outlet, you're still protected.

Check all outlets in the kitchen and be sure they are wired correctly and in good shape. Unplug everything while you test. If the GFCI still trips, start looking for loose neutrals or bad ground wiring (or no ground) at the other receptacles since you said you already checked the breaker box.

A coffee maker can be a cuplrit that causes a GFCI to trip since it is a heating device and uses water, which can make them more susceptible to electrical problems. Check the microwave too (if equipped).

What is happening is the white wire that comes off the breaker is probably too close to another neutral or too close to a hot wire that is on one of the other circuits that will make it trip when you use a drill etc... Check to see if the coiled up white wire off of the breaker is not near a hot in the panel. I have had lots of arc fault breakers trip for that reason.