What causes an arc fault circuit breaker to shut off?
What causes an arc fault circuit breaker to shut off? AFCIs are designed to sense an arc, which is an electrical “leak” caused when a hot wire touches a neutral or ground but doesn’t trigger the circuit breaker. Although current-sensing circuitry enables AFCIs to detect arcing conditions, unintended trickles of current may also cause the breaker to shut off (AFCIs are very sensitive!). What causes an arcing fault to go out? An arcing fault has a minimum arc voltage which is pretty high when the arc ignites. Then as the current (not voltage) goes through zero (AC does this 120...