Arc-fault Circuit Interrupter - Limitations

Limitations

AFCIs are designed to protect against fires caused by electrical arc faults. While the sensitivity of the AFCIs helps in the detection of arc faults, these breakers can also indicate false positives, identifying normal circuit behaviors as arc faults. For instance, lightning strikes provide voltage and current profiles that resemble arc faults. This nuisance tripping reduces the overall effectiveness of AFCIs. Research into advancements in this area are being pursued.

Also, AFCIs provide no specific protection against "glowing" connections, excess current, high line voltages or low line voltages. AFCI circuit breakers for use in a panelboard include a standard inverse-time circuit breaker. Glowing connections occur when relatively high electric current exists in a relatively large resistance object. Heat comes from power dissipation. This energy, when dissipated in a small junction area, can generate temperatures above 1000 degrees Celsius and can ignite most flammable materials.

Bad wiring junctions can occur in utilization equipment, cords or in-situ wiring and especially in a defective switch, socket, plug, wiring connection and even at the circuit breaker or fuse panels. Terminal screws loosened by vibration, improper tightening or other causes offer increased resistance to the current, with consequent heating and potential thermal creep, which will cause the termination to loosen further and exacerbate the heating effect. In North America, high resistance junctions are sometimes observed at the terminations of aluminum wire circuits, where oxidation has caused increased resistance, resulting in thermal creep. No technology located in a circuit breaker or fuse panel could detect a high-resistance wiring fault as no measurable characteristic exists that differentiates a glow fault from normal branch circuit operation. Power Fault Circuit Interrupters (PFCI) located in receptacles are designed to prevent fires caused by glowing connections in premise wiring or panels. From the receptacle a PFCI can detect the voltage drop when high current exists in a high resistance junction. In a properly designed and maintained circuit substantial voltage drops should never occur. Proper wire terminations inside utilization equipment, such as appliances, and cords prevent high-resistance connections that could lead to fires.

An AFCI does not detect high line voltage due to an open neutral in a multiwire branch circuit. A multiwire branch circuit has both energized wires of a 120-240V split phase service. If the neutral is broken, devices connected from a 120 V leg to the neutral may experience excess voltage, up to twice normal.

AFCIs do not detect low line voltage. Low line voltage can cause electro-mechanical relays to repeatedly turn off (relay opens) and on (relay closes again). If current is flowing through the load contacts it will cause arcing across the contacts when they open. The arcing can oxidize, pit and melt the contacts. This process can increase the contact resistance, superheat the relay and lead to fires. Power fault circuit interrupters are designed to prevent fires from low voltage across loads.