I've really got two possibly related issues here. We have a basement office that we wired ourselves. Code required that we put in an AFCI breaker. From what I've read these can be pretty temperamental and that has been the case with us. The breaker will trip as often as once a day but it is usually less often. We replaced the original AFCI breaker and for about a month after we were good. However, now it has started tripping often again.
I have a surge protector hooked up on one outlet with a PC and monitor attached. It is the kind of surge protector with the master outlet that can control the other devices so they turn on/off when the master device turns on/off. I've noticed that anytime we run the garbage disposal upstairs and also at many random times throughout the day, the surge protector will make a clicking sound, like the power has come on/gone off of the main device (the PC). The PC isn't turned on.
Any ideas what might be going on here, both with the breaker flipping and/or the surge protector clicking? I know we have mixed wiring of 15A (14 gauge, white) and 20A (12 gauge, yellow). The AFCI breaker itself is 15A. Could either of those be a possible problem or does it sound like this is something else? Bad outlet(s) along the circuit?
Best Answer
I've had some issues with AFICs in the past, and one quick thing you should check (which ended up being my problem): Is the insulation on the wire coming into the outlet box pinched and causing a loose/flaky connection? That will still give power to the outlet (under a normal breaker) and won't trip a normal breaker, but it'll drive an AFCI nuts.
Another technique you can try to debug this is by swapping in a GFCI breaker, and see if that trips too. If the GFCI trips, it's a grounding problem. If it only trips on the AFCI, then there's arcing somewhere along the circuit. Check junction boxes, the outlet boxes and the connections to the plugs in the boxes.
Happy & Safe Debugging!