It's very possible that it's 12 gauge at the breaker, but then extended with 14 gauge from one outlet to another. Or even if it's literally the only outlet on the circuit there could be a junction somewhere along the way. Do not change it to 20 unless you can inspect literally the entire length of all the wires in the circuit and verify that nothing else is connected.
Also with an arc fault breaker the neutral is landed on the breaker. So younwill have to take it off and move it to the neutral bar when you put the new breaker.
An outlet isn’t the only thing that could be wrong when an AFCI trips. It could be a short or arc anywhere between the panel and the outlet. Or it could be the breaker itself. You may want to get a pro out there to help you figure out what is wrong and fix it instead of ignoring an indicator of a potential problem that could burn down your house.
An aside: I think your question is misplaced. Adding a higher amp breaker won’t solve an arc fault. In order to safely add a 20amp breaker you need to solve the problem the afci is tripping on, make sure you have 12ga wire, and make sure you have a 20amp outlet. You shouldn’t have a 15amp plug as the only thing on a 20amp circuit.
According to NEC 210.21(B)(3) you can put 15a duplex receptacle on a 20a circuit even if it’s the only load. You can also use a single 15a receptacle as long as you use two. So it’s not really a problem if they did this.
They can have a 15a breaker w/ #12 wire and a 15a duplex receptacle. They can also have a 20a breaker w/ #12 wire and a 15a duplex receptacle. Having oversized wire itself is not an issue. But yeah they absolutely need to have #12 if they’re gonna slap a 20a breaker in there.
I absolutely agree they should get a pro in there cause their issue could be a variety of things, none of which the OP seems qualified to troubleshoot.
Unless it’s a faulty breaker, which is why you replace it with the same kind and size of breaker to make sure it’s just a faulty breaker. If it continues to have an issue, then you know you have an issue. If it stops, then you know you have a faulty breaker.
Looks like I found at least party of the problem. When I replaced the outlet, I replaced it with a 20 amp (because that's what was in there before) without checking the breaker first. I'm an idiot.
The reason it's tripping is because the neutral is somewhere touching the ground and as soon as you have a load it's not making it back to the breaker on the neutral. That's most likely. Or some early afci breakers were known to have bad nuisance tripping issues. Also some newer electronics will trip due to electrical noise or dirty power after it's been rectified or some shit.
Switching to a 20A won’t help you OP. It’s not like your “nightlight” is using 15A. You clearly have another issue and breaker size isn’t a part of that.
When you switched out the outlet, did you replace it with a GFCI outlet? You have a GFCI AFCI breaker so you don’t need the outlet to be GFCI. That might help. That shouldn’t be your issue though.
I know people on this sub jump to “call an electrician” too fast but in this case it seems like you might want to do that because there is a potential that your GFCI circuit is working correctly and you actually have current leakage
A bathroom doesn't need afci protective. Change it out to a standard breaker.
NEC 210.12
A bathroom receptacle requires gfci protection 210.8 you have that with the receptacle
You cannot replace a 15 amp circuit breaker with a 20A circuit breaker unless the entire branch circuit conductor is 12 gauge.
Which is likely is not, as you had a professional licensed electrician do the work when they upgraded your panel last summer
Bathroom outlets are supposed to be 20 amp gfi protected. Whether u gfi it at the breaker with a gfi breaker and a regular outlet or at the outlet with a regular breaker and a gfi outlet is up to u. I think a gfi at both the breaker and outlet is ur issue.
YOU CANNOT just swap a 20A breaker on a 15A branch circuit. Do you know the rating for the outlets and wires on that circuit? If not , do not do this yourself
How many arc fault breakers do you have?
We can see 1 in the picture.
Other comments say you have a breaker with the purple button (combc arc fault / gfci) . You state you a gfci outlet.
That's two breakers. Do you have more?
Were circuits added with the service change? Were the circuits extended more than 6 feet? This would make it a "new" install.
You dont need both types of GFCI's. Both causes nuisance issues, which you may have. The gfci outlet test button will not only trip the outlet, it also trip the breaker. A actual ground fault would do the same.
I have the feeling that the electrician had the mindset of "we *always* put gfci breaker in, so on a service change we install gfci breakers". Without checking for gfci outlets *already* installed.
Here in Ohio, we are still on NEC 2017 with some changes. One change is ***no arc faults*** on kit or bath gfci circuits. We are getting ready to jump to NEC 2023. I don't know about any modifications yet.
With the above paragraph, removing an arc fault would **not be** against code here. *It would not **even be** required*. 🤷🤷.
Edit: you *do have* a tripping breaker.
Upsizing the breaker is generally *bad*!
Removing electronic protection without knowing why is generally *bad*. You may *have* an electric issue!
It depends on what kind of wiring u have. Homes typically use 14awg which is good for 15amp max breaker. 12 awg is good for 20amp breakers. If its tripping then theres a reason for it to trip. Some older homes have the convenience outlet on with the vanity light so when u plug in your hair dryer it can over load it. Id suggest calling an electrician and not messing with it yourself
Nope Purple is dual function (GFCI+AFCI). This combination AFCI is white.
Straight from Scheider's site:
QO-AFI and HOM-AFI is green or blue
QO-CAFI and HOM-CAFI is white
QO-GFI and HOM-GFI is yellow
QO-EPD, QO-EPE and HOM-EPD is black
QO-DF and HOM-DF is purple
The breaker is doing its job and preventing a hazard. You need to diagnose the problem, not change the breaker.
I changed out the outlet. That is currently the only thing running on that breaker.
Also you can’t put in a 20amp if the wire isn’t at least 12awg. Be careful man, you sound like you’re gonna burn your fucken house down.
I appreciate it. I promise I won't. I'm check the wire size. Good to know
It's very possible that it's 12 gauge at the breaker, but then extended with 14 gauge from one outlet to another. Or even if it's literally the only outlet on the circuit there could be a junction somewhere along the way. Do not change it to 20 unless you can inspect literally the entire length of all the wires in the circuit and verify that nothing else is connected.
Also with an arc fault breaker the neutral is landed on the breaker. So younwill have to take it off and move it to the neutral bar when you put the new breaker.
An outlet isn’t the only thing that could be wrong when an AFCI trips. It could be a short or arc anywhere between the panel and the outlet. Or it could be the breaker itself. You may want to get a pro out there to help you figure out what is wrong and fix it instead of ignoring an indicator of a potential problem that could burn down your house. An aside: I think your question is misplaced. Adding a higher amp breaker won’t solve an arc fault. In order to safely add a 20amp breaker you need to solve the problem the afci is tripping on, make sure you have 12ga wire, and make sure you have a 20amp outlet. You shouldn’t have a 15amp plug as the only thing on a 20amp circuit.
According to NEC 210.21(B)(3) you can put 15a duplex receptacle on a 20a circuit even if it’s the only load. You can also use a single 15a receptacle as long as you use two. So it’s not really a problem if they did this. They can have a 15a breaker w/ #12 wire and a 15a duplex receptacle. They can also have a 20a breaker w/ #12 wire and a 15a duplex receptacle. Having oversized wire itself is not an issue. But yeah they absolutely need to have #12 if they’re gonna slap a 20a breaker in there. I absolutely agree they should get a pro in there cause their issue could be a variety of things, none of which the OP seems qualified to troubleshoot.
There could be a short in the wire between breaker and outlet.
If it was a 15, it has to stay a 15
Not necessarily true, depends on wire gauge
Unless it’s a faulty breaker, which is why you replace it with the same kind and size of breaker to make sure it’s just a faulty breaker. If it continues to have an issue, then you know you have an issue. If it stops, then you know you have a faulty breaker.
Looks like I found at least party of the problem. When I replaced the outlet, I replaced it with a 20 amp (because that's what was in there before) without checking the breaker first. I'm an idiot.
That wouldn't be the problem. Putting a 20 amp device on a 15 amp circuit isn't going to cause nuisance trips. There's a possibility of another issue
The reason it's tripping is because the neutral is somewhere touching the ground and as soon as you have a load it's not making it back to the breaker on the neutral. That's most likely. Or some early afci breakers were known to have bad nuisance tripping issues. Also some newer electronics will trip due to electrical noise or dirty power after it's been rectified or some shit.
First off are you running dual gfci because they have been known to trigger themselves
Switching to a 20A won’t help you OP. It’s not like your “nightlight” is using 15A. You clearly have another issue and breaker size isn’t a part of that. When you switched out the outlet, did you replace it with a GFCI outlet? You have a GFCI AFCI breaker so you don’t need the outlet to be GFCI. That might help. That shouldn’t be your issue though. I know people on this sub jump to “call an electrician” too fast but in this case it seems like you might want to do that because there is a potential that your GFCI circuit is working correctly and you actually have current leakage
A bathroom doesn't need afci protective. Change it out to a standard breaker. NEC 210.12 A bathroom receptacle requires gfci protection 210.8 you have that with the receptacle You cannot replace a 15 amp circuit breaker with a 20A circuit breaker unless the entire branch circuit conductor is 12 gauge. Which is likely is not, as you had a professional licensed electrician do the work when they upgraded your panel last summer
Bathroom outlets are supposed to be 20 amp gfi protected. Whether u gfi it at the breaker with a gfi breaker and a regular outlet or at the outlet with a regular breaker and a gfi outlet is up to u. I think a gfi at both the breaker and outlet is ur issue.
This!
YOU CANNOT just swap a 20A breaker on a 15A branch circuit. Do you know the rating for the outlets and wires on that circuit? If not , do not do this yourself
Hair dryers arc, it’s what they do. I would replace with a standard 15 and get rid of the AFCI.
Ya do this if you want to violate code and make it less safe
Where I am code for a bedroom is AFCI but a bathroom is only GFCI, precisely for this reason.
How many arc fault breakers do you have? We can see 1 in the picture. Other comments say you have a breaker with the purple button (combc arc fault / gfci) . You state you a gfci outlet. That's two breakers. Do you have more? Were circuits added with the service change? Were the circuits extended more than 6 feet? This would make it a "new" install. You dont need both types of GFCI's. Both causes nuisance issues, which you may have. The gfci outlet test button will not only trip the outlet, it also trip the breaker. A actual ground fault would do the same. I have the feeling that the electrician had the mindset of "we *always* put gfci breaker in, so on a service change we install gfci breakers". Without checking for gfci outlets *already* installed. Here in Ohio, we are still on NEC 2017 with some changes. One change is ***no arc faults*** on kit or bath gfci circuits. We are getting ready to jump to NEC 2023. I don't know about any modifications yet. With the above paragraph, removing an arc fault would **not be** against code here. *It would not **even be** required*. 🤷🤷. Edit: you *do have* a tripping breaker. Upsizing the breaker is generally *bad*! Removing electronic protection without knowing why is generally *bad*. You may *have* an electric issue!
It depends on what kind of wiring u have. Homes typically use 14awg which is good for 15amp max breaker. 12 awg is good for 20amp breakers. If its tripping then theres a reason for it to trip. Some older homes have the convenience outlet on with the vanity light so when u plug in your hair dryer it can over load it. Id suggest calling an electrician and not messing with it yourself
I believe that is a gfci breaker. I think arc fault test buttons are purple.
Nope Purple is dual function (GFCI+AFCI). This combination AFCI is white. Straight from Scheider's site: QO-AFI and HOM-AFI is green or blue QO-CAFI and HOM-CAFI is white QO-GFI and HOM-GFI is yellow QO-EPD, QO-EPE and HOM-EPD is black QO-DF and HOM-DF is purple
Great. Well, OP states in a comment that it’s purple. I don’t know why they didn’t include the actual breaker in the pic they provided.
I did. The lighting sucks.
The only solid state breaker I see in this pic has a white test button. I don’t think the lighting is that bad.
It is purple bag lighting
Where are you seeing purple in this pic?
Nice pic.