With all due respect George, I'm well aware of proper installation of AFCIs. The fact that, once replaced, all of the AFCIs that I replaced them with are still active, leads me no other option but to believe that they do, in fact, have an inordinate failure rate.
Had the same circuit caused a failure on a replacement AFCI, I would have to direct the blame to myself and my installation practice and circuit wiring. However, this is not the case, so the AFCIs appear to be the issue.
Although they may be a good idea, I still believe that the manufacturers are slow in improvement and fast in legislation.
