[RFI] AFCI and RFI

[Gary]

Ken,

     Probably worth reaching out to the ARRL on this one as it was a big deal with the Eaton breakers - I understand yours are Square D.

http://www.arrl.org/gfci-and-afci-devices


http://www.arrl.org/forum/topics/view/1156

  There is an email link to Ed Hare, W1RFI, on the lab web page here:
http://www.arrl.org/the-lab-staff

Good Luck and Keep Us Posted - 73,
Joe kk0sd



-----Original Message-----
From: RFI <rfi-bounces at contesting.com> On Behalf Of Kenneth G. Gordon
Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2018 9:07 AM
To: Rfi at contesting.com
Subject: [RFI] AFCI and RFI

Local codes require those new AFCI (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter) breakers in any circuit feeding a bedroom here.

We have two such circuits feeding our bedroom and an adjacent office in a recent addition to our home.

Whenever I am on 40 meters, either one or both AFCIs will trip off. This is highly annoying to my wife, and I don't like it much either.

I have contacted the maker of the breakers, Square D, and they tell me, after some rudimentary tests, that there is nothing wrong with their breakers.

So, I am left with trying to filter the RF off the lines to the breakers.

I had thought of connecting an X-2 type 0.01 uFd capacitor across the line and neutral wires going into the breaker, and a pair of Y-2 0.01 uFd types from both line and neutral to ground.

However, I am somewhat reluctant to try this as I suspect that the leakage across those caps will trip the AFCI off.

Tonight I thought that perhaps some ferrite filters, either a series of snap-on types, or some toroid types, on each wire which connects to the breaker would filter enough of the RF to prevent the breakers from tripping off.

Has anyone here run into this sort of problem and if so, how did you eliminate that?

BTW, I am a qualified electrician, and wired our entire addition and the sub-panel which contains these breakers. The local Electrical Inspector gave me an "A" grade for my work.

Additional information: I am running close to a kW output to a vertical antenna which is about 25 feet from the breaker-panel. The vertical has a good ground-system, 32 radials, and I don't get this sort of problem from any band but 40 meters. My favorite mode is CW, although I also operate some digital modes, but at lower power, like 50 watts. I seldom operate voice. The digital signals never trip the AFCIs.

Ken W7EKB


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