Electrical – Frigidaire Electric Range trips arc-fault circuit breaker in another room

electrical-panel

I have a problem that occurs intermittently in several different apartment units. Kitchen has Frigidaire Electric Range. Living room (LR) and bedroom (BR) have 15 Amp AFCI circuit breakers that control ceiling lights in the kitchen and LR & outlets in LR.

At times when one or more burners are in use on the range, the AFCI that controls Ceiling Lights in LR & Kitchen and outlets in LR will trip. I am changing out the 15 Amp AFCI because I don't see anything wrong. It doesn't do it all the time and it has done it in at least 5 different apartments.

All apartments are wired the same & all have the same range. What the heck is causing this?

Best Answer

The surface burner controllers on electric ranges work by making and breaking the circuit to the heating element. I don't know the frequency at which this occurs, but this mode of operation would appear to have the potential to trigger an arc fault breaker or receptacle. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_regulator

Therefore, some ranges might trip some AFCI breakers or receptacles. Is AFCI protection appropriate for a kitchen? I thought AFCI was for bedrooms.

Frigidaire is a name brand of range so I would first suspect the AFCI receptacle or breaker. What is the type (receptacle or breaker) and brand of AFCI device you have in the kitchen circuits of these apartments?