[TowerTalk] AFCI RFI?

[John Simmons]

A local ham resumed his ham activities after a multi-year hiatus which 
included moving into a newly constructed house. All was fine with the 
arc-fault/ground fault breakers with SSB or PSK31 HF operations on all 
HF bands, with either a multi-band vertical or EFHW, including running 
1KW. When he started using FT8, even at 25W the breakers started 
tripping, but only when there was a load on the associated circuit. He 
contacted the ARRL which put him in touch with a rep at Eaton, the 
breaker manufacturer. The rep said that there was an issue with the 
arc-fault detection circuit which has since been re-designed. Eaton 
supplied new breakers at no charge and the local ham installed them. Now 
FT8 operations, even at 750W do *NOT* cause any issues with the breakers.

The arc-fault detection circuit falsely sees the FT8 modulation as an 
arc condition.


-- 
73,
-de John "Curly" NI0K in rural Debs, MN USA
Hamshack Hotline: 6100000271
https://www.qrz.com/db/NI0K

john wrote on 3/16/2023 2:40 PM:
> We have had a terrible time with Siemens breakers.  All of the Siemens 
> AFCI connected to my ham station were replaced with regular breakers. 
> We are still having problems with medical equipment breakers popping, 
> as well as washer/dryer. I have heard that Siemens has improved 
> breakers, but out Electrician will no longer return phone calls.
>   - 73, John, N0TA
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