Circuit breaker tripping


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Old 09-15-12, 12:08 PM
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Circuit breaker tripping

hi, im hoping somebody may be able to help.
I have one room in my which house, which was built last year, that the circuit breaker trips when I hook my tv into my cable box. The tv and cable box can both be plugged into the power outlets and turn on normally however as soon as i plug the tv into the cable with coaxial cable or hdmi cable the circuit trips.
if i run an extension cable from another room (another circuit) and plug the tv in, the breaker doesnt trip and the tv works fine with normal picture. if i run a coaxial cable from another room into the cable box, with the tv and cable box plugged into the outlets in that room it trips the circuit.


i had the electrician who did the house come out and he said everything was hooked up fine and that it was the comcast cable line. the comcast guy came out and said it was the electrical lines.

anybody have any ideas?
 
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Old 09-15-12, 12:44 PM
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Were you using all the same equipment before you tried to hook things up in the new room? If I am understanding everything the you have written it seems as though the trouble is with the cable. I have been an electrician 50+ years and at a loss on this one.

Is the CB of the GFI type?
 
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Old 09-15-12, 12:58 PM
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What if you plug everything in with everything turned off. Hook up all the coax with everything turned off. Does it still trip? Like watchman, is it a GFCI breaker? If so, the shielding on the coax is abraded and is most likely touching an electrical part somewhere in it's travels. It's not comcast, it's the installation, IMO.

I had a client for whom I remodeled a basement. Knowing he was a big TV watcher, I divided up his entertainment room with two circuits so if he planned on running a small heater he could do so without messing with the over amperage thing. Well, he decided to run 2 each 1500 watt heaters in the room last winter (he has Central HVAC), and hooked them in on one half of the room that was on one circuit. Naturally the 20 amp breaker wouldn't handle it.
Let us know about the GFCI thingy.
 
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Old 09-15-12, 06:53 PM
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I suspect it might be an AFCI protected circuit.
 
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Old 09-16-12, 05:45 AM
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All of this equipment has worked in another room. i actually have another cable box in the house that is working normally and when i hooked it up it still tripped it.

yes, it still trips the system with everything turned off.

the circuit breaker has a switch that says 15 on it. not sure if gfci. how do i find that out?

thx
Adam
 
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Old 09-16-12, 06:15 AM
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An AFCI or GFCI circuit breaker will have a button that says "TEST" on it. Since it was built last year, it is likely a AFCI protected circuit which is required by code, as PCBoss said.

If possible, run a TV cable from another jack in the house to the TV/box and see if it still trips.
 
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Old 09-16-12, 06:59 AM
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i ran a coaxial cable from the wall outlet of another room that is working normally and it still tripped the breaker in this room. that is why the comcast guy said it isnt the cable line because it still tripped the breaker when we ran it from another room.

the house does have outlets scattered throughout that have the test button. the tv and cable are plugged into outlets that do not have test on them.


thx!
 
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Old 09-16-12, 07:47 AM
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I would start by replacing ALL coaxial connectors and splitters. As chandler said it is likely the shielding of the coax that is touching something that it should not be. What type of coax connectors are used? Crimp on? screw on? Compression? I only used compression when I was a cable tech. I found that the other types of connectors never made good contact with the shielding or the shielding would end up touching the conductor. That is not to say that I never saw this with compression fittings, but it was less likely. Are your splitters and ground blocks properly bonded? Have you verified the 120V outlet is wired properly?
 
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Old 09-19-12, 06:19 PM
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the electrician said its wired properly. it is an afci and he said he would recommend taking out the afci and changing it to a regular breaker since the room is not a bedroom. he said this is safe and under code because you only need an afci in bedrooms. what do you guys think?

thx
 
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Old 09-19-12, 06:44 PM
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According to this information which I found here: http://www.iaei.org/regulations/us/tennessee/ AFCI breakers are optional in rooms other then the bedrooms. That means the breaker could be changed out to a standard one and still meet code. In my state, (MN) we are under the 2011 code so we have to put them in almost all rooms.

In Article 210.12(B) of the 2008 edition of the National Electrical Code, arc-fault circuit interrupters, combination type, shall be required for all bedrooms and in all other rooms shall be optional.
However, that does not address the cause of the tripping breaker. It should not be tripping. If you plug in the TV/cable box into a different AFCI protected circuit, does that one trip when connecting the coax?
 
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Old 09-22-12, 04:22 AM
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i agree. im worried something is tripping the circuit. it works normally on another circuit.
 
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Old 09-23-12, 09:31 AM
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Just to be clear, it works normally on another AFCI protected circuit?
If so, your issue would be the AFCI breaker or some wiring on the problem circuit.
 
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Old 09-26-12, 05:05 PM
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yes it works on another afci circuit. i convinced the electrician to come back and change out the afci breaker to see if it is that. if not, i guess the wiring needs to be checked.
 
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Old 09-26-12, 05:34 PM
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IF it works on another AFCI breaker, you are correct, it is either the breaker or the wiring of that circuit. IF the breaker checks out, open each box of that circuit and look for a ground touching a neutral screw. This will cause AFCIs to trip.
 
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Old 09-26-12, 05:53 PM
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i convinced the electrician to come back and change out the afci breaker to see if it is that. if not, i guess the wiring needs to be checked.
Typically, construction and/or electrical work is warranted for one year. Exactly how long has it been since substantial completion of the room. Substantial completion is the terminology generally used as a beginning of the warranty period.
 
 

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