I have a celling fan with light in my bedroom. The fan is off, but when I turn the light switch on, it trips the circuit breaker. I have used the fan and the light for the last two years with no probl

Christopher, motors starter/capacitor could be faulty, wire circuit/breaker could be insufficient. motor could be faulty or wired incorrectly. Have motor checked out and ensure you are wiring correctly.
Check the attached links,instruction and guides, Good luck
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LEESON Electric Motor Trouble Shooting Chart
Motor trips breaker Why
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=256105

If you have a volt ohm meter you can test, the fan/light itself to see if there is a short circuit from the hot wire to ground or to the neutral. If there is a light hook up do the same for it. You might want to try just the light or just the motor connections to eliminate the bad circuit or faulty wiring. In some homes you will find that you have 2 hot wires, one switched and one not switched so watch for that because you could be connecting 2 hot wires together which will trip a ckt. breaker. if you are sure that you have proper wiring not, skinned or anything and the motor does trip the breaker then you have your solution.

Hi,

If your arc fault breakers are tripping, then there is an arc developing somewhere along the line from the panelboard to the rooms that the breakers cover. If they are breaking in more than one room, then the fault lies in the lines somewhere between the panel and junction to these rooms.
You would have to trace the line from the panel to each light/outlet until you find the problem. Remember the arcing could be occurring anywhere, in the line, at the light, or at the outlet.
Your brother should be able to check each section of wire for continuity rather than ripping out all the wires in those circuits.

Hope this helps. If it does, I'd appreciate a 4 thumbs up. Thanks,

Handie Andie

Hello. The issue could be with the saw itself. If the breakers are 15A (and for bedrooms, they should be) and the tool draws that or better, then the breaker will trip. The reason it trips faster at the EOL (end of line) is due to the resistance in the wiring itself. The further away from the initial source - the more loss/resistance.

Truthfully, the arcfault function is designed to detect arcing in a circuit. AFCIs disable the circuit immediately if they detect any type of problem (read "arcing") in the circuit. since the sawsall motor functions DUE to acring of the brushes on the motor, your circut is actually behaving according to design.

The final issue could be that the tool IS causing an issue, and may need repair.

Hope this helps.

One single cable runs from the circuit breaker to a junction box in that area of the house.
The cable has a black Hot wire, white Neutral wire, and bare ground wire.
Once the cable arrives at junction box, it can split up 2 or 3 directions.
Each successive box receives a cable that feeds back to the first junction box.

Chances are the junction box is on the ceiling. And it will be the ceiling box that is closest to main breaker box.
Junction box can also be a switch box. In that case it will be switch box closest to main box.

Find the junction box, as point of organization.
Open junction box and separate all black and white wires.
Turn power on and see if breaker sets.
That will tell you if problem is between main box and junction box.

Junction box wires are separated.
Tape tester leads to wood sticks to keep hands away from power.
Turn power ON and test each wire in junction box to bare ground wire.
Tester will light up on Hot wire.
Test Hot to each other wire in box, except bare ground, and tester lights up on Neutral
This identifies the cable that comes from breaker box.

Now, reconnect cable from breaker box to one of the other sets of black and white wires located in junction box.
Check if breaker resets.
If breaker resets, see what circuits are working, and you can eliminate them as suspect.

Remember each successive box in a circuit has 1 cable that connects back to main breaker box
Going 1 box at a time, and disconnecting black and white wires, will eventually lead to the suspect.

Add a comment for more free help.
Also take advantage of fixya expert assistance live.
For a price, expert works with you while you work on circuit or any do-it-yourself project.
Fixya is always less expensive than a service call.

Hi,
Either there is a bad connection in the fan/light or the circuit braker tripped...there is no fuses or circuit breakers in the unit...
Pull the fan apart and check for power there and if there is non then check the circuit breaker..

heatman101

My arc fault breaker trips in my bedroom when ever a load is put on line. The trunk line comes into a three gang switch box and feeds the entire room. At times I can turn my ceiling fan and light on for 10 to 20 minutes before the breaker trips. Other times the breaker will trip when either switch is first turned on. I plugged a 4 watt night light in a wall receptical, without the ceiling light or fan on, it also trips the breaker. I have had other plug in lamps, 60 watt, work in other recepticals for a while. The problem seems to appear in all recepticals and lighting in the room.

Check your wiring for short circuits. If you turn the switch on and it pops it may be in the switch box or up in the fan box. Also make sure the fan blades spin freely. A motor overload or short circuit would be the only reason for the breaker tripping immediately.

It is unlikely that those temperatures would cause the circuit breaker to shut off and come back on intermittently. (If the breaker trips it has to be reset manually.) It is possible that the breaker is defective internally or that there is a loose connection in the wiring. If you are not knowledgeable about electrical work you should have an electrician check it out for you.

Are there any heaters anywhere in the circuit for this breaker? (ie: bathroom fan w/light and heater) If yes, I would suspect and inspect them first. Also,any type breaker will trip more easily if the electrical connection screws on the breaker are not tight enough...check to make sure that's not the case.