have a attic fan in bedroom, need arc-fault? tried a cutler hammer breaker keeps tripping. attic fan about 30 years old. any suggestions inspector wants arc fault

120V 15-20A, in a bedroom, Yes AFCI.
New fan.
Howed the inspector get involved? Remodel?

Maybe it is time for a new fan. AFCI's include ground fault protection which trips at about 30ma. The fan that old could have defective insulation which would trip the AFCI. Another thing to investigate, if you haven't already, is the possibility of a grounded neutral conductor which will also cause a trip.

"attic fan" as in "in attic, mounted ON the roof" or one of them "whole house fans"??
I didnt think an attic fan needed AFCI

Unless the fan is actually located IN the bedroom ... I don't see where the requirement for the AFCI exists. The code is pretty clear ... every "outlet" ... and a switch is not an outlet.

In a like manner, simply having the fan pull air from the bedroom does not place it 'in' the room. I suppose a bath fan, where the fan is directly mounted to a hole in the ceiling, could be considered 'in' the bedroom. Let there be even a foot of duct, though, and it's not in the bedroom.

Otherwise, I agree that the fan is likely in need of replacement.

Put the fan on a different circuit that is not feeding the rooms

the fan is on it's own curcit,it is in the stairway that is in the bedroom. it is not in the attic.it is a 2 speed fan . check out all connection. next step is to see if breaker is bad.are there any exceptions to the arc-fault rule that i have missed?

Exchanging the breaker to see if it is defective is a quick and easy way to eliminate that from the equation.

However, I agree with several of the above statements regarding the age of the equipment and it being the likely problem. 30 year old equipment will simply not be compatable with AFCI technology.

While it may not be practical or economically feasible to replace the entire fan assembly, you may be able to simply replace the motor and controller components.

Since this is an individual circuit it should be pretty easy to diagnose. At the panel (with the breaker off) check for continuity between the ground and neutral when disconnected from the bus. If it is anything but infinity that is probably the trouble (ground neutral short). Work your way back to the motor until you find it. Next step would be to temporarily hook it up to a regular breaker and hang your clamp on across the ground. It should stay zero. If you have something, I would suspect an intermittent grounded motor winding (real ground fault).

thanks for the feedback i'm going to see if i can move the switch on the stairway landing hopefully he will except that instead of changeing the motor

---the fan is on it's own curcit,it is in the stairway that is in the bedroom.--

There you are. 120V, 2005, AFCI.


---i'm going to see if i can move the switch on the stairway landing hopefully he will except that instead of changeing the motor ---

The switch is not an outlet. The fan is.

Just disconnect the fan motor. If the breaker holds, it's not the ckt,it's the fan.

good luck, keep us posted.

Actually it is not that easy Leland. If the neutral is shorted to ground it won't trip the GF portion of the AFCI until you put a load on it.

Thats correct Greg, I did over look the obvious.

In the end, Most likely the 30yr old fan. A new fan would be more economical as well.

On the other hand a 30 year old fan probably has oil cups in the motor and properly maintained it may last another 30 years. I have two at my house like that and I can't bring myself to replace them with some offshore "throwaway" unit. They are quiet and move a lot of air. I guess I should put the clamp on one and see how bad it really is.

The code is pretty clear ... every "outlet" ... and a switch is not an outlet.