I had this issue at a previous house. The old ones didn't trip and the new
ones did. We moved them around, but only the same devices tripped regardless
of location. We tore a couple apart and found the old ones had a capacitor
from the hot to the neutral. The new ones did not (probably saved a penny).
We added a ceramic disk capacitor with a more than high enough voltage rating
to the new ones and the problem was solved. This is my experience. I am not
making a recommendation -- What you do is your business. AC wiring can be
dangerous. Always use caution! Your mileage may vary. 73,Joe kk0sd
> Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2013 15:15:53 -0500
> From: jeff@mossycup.com
> To: rfi@contesting.com
> Subject: [RFI] Troubleshooting AFCI Tripping Due To Amateur Transmissions
>
> A friend of a family member is experiencing an apparent RFI issue which is
> causing his code required AFCI outlets to trip, apparently due to his
> neighbors amateur transmissions. This is in the Southern New Hampshire
> area. Unfortunately, unlike many of us in the amateur community (who would
> relish the opportunity to troubleshoot such an interesting RFI issue) the
> operator seems unwilling to provide even a basic level of assistance. To
> clarify, this is a situation where a licensee is apparently causing
> interference to a Part 15 AFCI in his neighbors house. While the licensee
> may not be under any legal obligation to help troubleshoot the RFI issue,
> I'm hoping we can come up with a solution for the neighbor. The neighbor
> has apparently spent hundreds of dollars in material and labor to have an
> electrician attempt to remedy the problem without success. Several brands
> of AFCIs have been tried with no improvement. The licensee has been
> unwilling to provide even basic assistance such as what bands he operates
> on, what power levels he uses, or what times he operates. I'm looking for
> suggestions on how to reduce the RFI which the neighbor's AFCIs are
> experiencing which will hopefully eliminate the erroneous AFCI trips.
>
> The little information we know about the licensee is that his antenna
> systems are wire only. There appear to be no HF/VHF beams or highly
> directional antennas on the property. I have not seen the antenna systems
> myself and these are only third party observations. In addition to being a
> licensed amateur, the operator is apparently an RF engineer as well. With
> this in mind, it's likely the licensee is operating on HF of MF, possibly
> QRO.
>
> The only suggestion I've been able to come up with on my own was to build a
> choke by running the romex wire leading to the neighbor's AFCIs through a
> large toroid of the appropriate material. This would simply be an attempt
> to prevent any induced MF/HF current on the electrical system from reaching
> the AFCI while allowing the 60Hz AC current to pass through unhindered. Of
> course, we aren't sure what frequency the licensee is operating on so we
> don't know what material to select. Our assumption that this is MF/HF
> interference may not even be correct -- the licensee may be operating on
> VHF+. Is this choke idea an appropriate path to follow or should I suggest
> something else entirely? Alternatively, are there any manufacturers of RF
> hardened AFCIs?
>
> 73,
>
> -Jeff
> W7WWA
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