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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
    Location
    texas
    Posts
    8

    Default GFCI/AFCI testing question

    It's been a looooooong week so maybe the brain is totally dead here... but here it goes:

    - There is an office room at the front left of the house which is adjacent to the kitchen.

    - When i was checking the office room's receptacle outlets with a 120V AC receptacle tester
    with a GFCI push test button to see if there were any open ground, neutrals, etc., I
    accidentally pushed the GFCI test button.

    - I was surprised to see that all the outlets in the office were GFCI protected as they tripped
    off when I pushed the test button.

    Could it be possible that the office room's AFCIs could be tripped with a GFCI tester? Could this be an indication of an issue with the AFCIs?

    Thanks for any insight!

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  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Plano, Texas
    Posts
    185

    Default Re: GFCI/AFCI testing question

    Roy, Sounds like they made the formal dining room an office. Since it is adjacent to the kitchen I think that's what happened. Dining rooms & breakfast nooks will have GFCI outlets in newer homes.
    I think your tester is OK.


  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Orlando, FL
    Posts
    1,592

    Default Re: GFCI/AFCI testing question

    How did you restore power to the receptacle outlets in this room?

    Some outlet testers will trip certain AFCI breakers. I thought that problem was old and forgotten, but who knows.

    It's possible the breaker was a combo GFCI/AFCI breaker.


  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    New Mexico
    Posts
    1,352

    Default Re: GFCI/AFCI testing question

    I would bet that it was protected with a GFCI device for some other reason. I have a few receptacles in my new house that are protected that aren't required just because it was easier to use a GFCI/AFCI combo breaker for the entire circuit instead of splitting them up with local GFCI protection.

    Jim Robinson
    New Mexico, USA

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Colorado Front Range
    Posts
    684

    Default Re: GFCI/AFCI testing question

    Some early, and some possibly current, AFCIs have a built-in GFCI that is not the "personal protection" variety. That is, they trip at a higher level but, they trip with the same tester.

    These are not the same animal as an AFCI/GFCI combo breaker where the GFCI part of the breaker can be used to protect receptacles.

    Occam's eraser: The philosophical principle that even the simplest solution is bound to have something wrong with it.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Guelph,Ontario
    Posts
    173

    Default Re: GFCI/AFCI testing question

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Kriegh View Post
    Some early, and some possibly current, AFCIs have a built-in GFCI that is not the "personal protection" variety. That is, they trip at a higher level but, they trip with the same tester.

    These are not the same animal as an AFCI/GFCI combo breaker where the GFCI part of the breaker can be used to protect receptacles.
    It can be a real issue at times,trying to figure out were the reset button is.


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Colorado Front Range
    Posts
    684

    Default Re: GFCI/AFCI testing question

    The AFCI device is usually the breaker for the circuit.

    Occam's eraser: The philosophical principle that even the simplest solution is bound to have something wrong with it.

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