W4TL
| Joined: | Sat, Apr 4th 1998, 00:00 | Roles: | N/A | Moderates: | N/A |
Latest Topics
| Topic | Created | Posts | Views | Last Activity |
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| HF RF Tripping Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI's) | Jun 11th 2014, 15:44 | 50 | 40,945 | on 13/7/23 |
Latest Posts
| Topic | Author | Posted On |
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| HF RF Tripping Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI's) | W4TL | on 4/8/14 |
| I communicated with my three neighbors across the street and explained the situation to them. They were are very amiable to seeking a resolution from Eaton and having their breakers replaced. I provided them with phone numbers and e-mails of Eaton (Joe Fello & Bob Hedrick) in Pittsburg and Eatons local rep in the Atlanta area (Stephen Byl) who has yet to respond to my e-mails or phone calls to him about the problems. He is ultimately the one who has to be a liaison between Eaton in Pittsburg and the electrical contractor who will change out the breakers. I also provided them Mike Gruber's contact info at the ARRL Lab so that he can be kept in the loop too. I advised them to contact all of these individuals via e-mail and phone and advise them of the problem with breakers tripping with my HF transmissions. This whole process takes too long to complete. Once a problem is detected we are basically off the air to keep good will with our neighbors until the breakers are fixed (4 to 6 weeks at best). You get back on the air and a week later you find another problem and the cycle starts over. I am still waiting for resolution on the house to my left that was brought to Eaton's attention the first of June. In my opinion that is entirely too long to wait for action. Maybe this is what they meant when the comment was made that the problems will "self correct." They may be waiting for the amateurs who are affected to give up and "go away." Terry, W4TL |
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| HF RF Tripping Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI's) | W4TL | on 4/8/14 |
| I communicated with my three neighbors across the street and explained the situation to them. They were are very amiable to seeking a resolution from Eaton and having their breakers replaced. I provided them with phone numbers and e-mails of Eaton (Joe Fello & Bob Hedrick) in Pittsburg and Eatons local rep in the Atlanta area (Stephen Byl) who has yet to respond to my e-mails or phone calls to him about the problems. He is ultimately the one who has to be a liaison between Eaton in Pittsburg and the electrical contractor who will change out the breakers. I also provided them Mike Gruber's contact info at the ARRL Lab so that he can be kept in the loop too. I advised them to contact all of these individuals via e-mail and phone and advise them of the problem with breakers tripping with my HF transmissions. This whole process takes too long to complete. Once a problem is detected we are basically off the air to keep good will with our neighbors until the breakers are fixed (4 to 6 weeks at best). You get back on the air and a week later you find another problem and the cycle starts over. I am still waiting for resolution on the house to my left that was brought to Eaton's attention the first of June. In my opinion that is entirely too long to wait for action. Maybe this is what they meant when the comment was made that the problems will "self correct." They may be waiting for the amateurs who are affected to give up and "go away." Terry, W4TL |
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| HF RF Tripping Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI's) | W4TL | on 1/8/14 |
I just learned this afternoon that I am tripping at least three of my neighbors directly across the street. I was hoping that they had the older AFCI's that didn't cause any trouble but they don't. My 20 meter signal is tripping the majority of the AFCI's in their panels. I wonder how many million of the faulty devices Eaton manufactured and put on the market from November of last year when the ARRL Lab helped them identify and correct their problem until now? The problem only get worse. I moved into a retirement community and wanted to enjoy amateur radio but dealing with this AFCI mess has really taken the enjoyment away. These so called "Safety Devices" are in my opinion "Junk." Once you learn of a situation of tripping breakers it takes at least a month to go through the process to get them replaced. What a "PITA" this whole thing is. W4TL |
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| HF RF Tripping Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI's) | W4TL | on 1/8/14 |
| The new "Ham Breakers" are still troublesome and tripping in some cases. This is a post yesterday on the E-ham forum regarding this. "Update 4: Tonight one of the NEW "HAM" BREAKERS TRIPPED TWICE. I was using 50 Watts with PSK on 20 Meters. I have notified Joe Fello at Eaton and can't wait to see what Eaton's response will be. VERY UNHAPPY. AK2L" I too had one of the new "Ham Breakers" trip on 20 meters at 14.015 Mhz CW yesterday morning. Mine tripped when I pressed the auto tuner on my Yaesu FTdx3000 with an output of 5 to 10 watts for it to complete the tuning cycle. Mine tripped before the tuning cycle completed. |
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| HF RF Tripping Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI's) | W4TL | on 24/7/14 |
| It appears that the problem with the Eaton AFCI's is going to continue for a long time and may never be resolved. The reason I say this is that the troublesome AFCI's are still to this day being manufactured and installed in neighborhoods all across the United States. I just moments ago got off the phone with Joe Fello (8:37 AM today) and he affirmed that Eaton is still manufacturing and electrical contractors are installing these troublesome breakers all over the US. They are only using the "HAM" breakers and replacing the faulty breakers on an "as need" basis. In my opinion this is making it more difficult to correct the problem if the manufacturer is still producing the product that is causing the problem and electrical contractors are still installing them. I pity the poor ham 10 years down the road that moves into a neighborhood loaded with these breakers and tries to get an HF station on the air. W4TL |
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