I have a 1-pole Square D "QO" type 1-pole, 20A GFCI breaker (not AFCI). Plugged into it are:
- Twenty-five CFL lights averaging ~15W each, so 375W nominal
- A 1500W-nominal heater-fan, though, I suspect with the 100' of #14 extension cord, probably running a bit shy of 1500W
If the heater is on, and I plug in the lights, I get a breaker trip. Often I get a breaker trip just with the lights. I have tried splitting up and powering only sections of lights, with varying and inconclusive results.
It's not unheard of for CFLs to have a pretty serious inrush current, but I am mystified.
I really need to know whether this is a GFCI trip, or an overcurrent trip. The QO breaker has no lights whatsoever. Can I get the breaker to tell me somehow? Or should I dump this and go with GFCI receptacles?
Best Answer
Older Square D breakers
Square D does not provide any means to distinguish type/reason of trip.
Newer Square D breakers (date code 1130 and newer)
These breakers (at this writing) have white or purple TEST buttons.
The "Time Saver" (heh) diagnostics provide a method for the breaker to tell you the cause of the last trip.
Link.... link.
Generally the procedure is to turn the breaker off, hold down TEST, turn the breaker back on continuing to hold down TEST, and time the number of seconds until the breaker trips again. The amount of delay (if any) reveals the trip cause - ground fault, arc fault, or overcurrent.
Note that Square D arc fault breakers have weak ground fault detection (for the purpose of detecting hot-ground and neutral-ground parallel arc faults) — so they can in fact trip on a ground fault indication.