Breaker keeps tripping

[palayman]

Hi,

I have a circuit in my man cave that has one six button keypad and 4 inline dimmers controlling lights. The breaker trips occasionally and I haven't been able to spot anything obviously tripping it.  I have noticed that when I turn the light controlled directly by the dimmer in six button switch on that the light flashes red rather than green like my other similar switches. Don't see anything about a red light in the documentation.

I have disconnected the circuit from the breaker and didn't find any obvious low resistances between the line, neutral and ground.

Any tips or tricks in figuring this one out are appreciated.

Paul

[lilyoyo1]

The red let's you know that it did not receive a response for a linked device. 

[jec6613]

Is this an AFI/GFI breaker?  It could be going bad if it's giving you nuisance trips.  I'd also re-terminate the wires into the breakers themselves if it's AFI/GFI, to ensure you have good connection there.

1 hour ago, lilyoyo1 said:

The red let's you know that it did not receive a response for a linked device. 

This is the cause of your red light.  The simple way to make sure it's not a programming issue is to hard reset the switch, then restore its configuration from the ISY.

[palayman]

3 hours ago, lilyoyo1 said:

The red let's you know that it did not receive a response for a linked device. 

First mystery solved. Not sure what the main button is linked to.

[palayman]

2 hours ago, jec6613 said:

Is this an AFI/GFI breaker? 

Thanks, but not on this circuit.

[larryllix]

Hi,

I have a circuit in my man cave that has one six button keypad and 4 inline dimmers controlling lights. The breaker trips occasionally and I haven't been able to spot anything obviously tripping it.  I have noticed that when I turn the light controlled directly by the dimmer in six button switch on that the light flashes red rather than green like my other similar switches. Don't see anything about a red light in the documentation.

I have disconnected the circuit from the breaker and didn't find any obvious low resistances between the line, neutral and ground.

Any tips or tricks in figuring this one out are appreciated.

Paul

You may need to use an insulation testers. Pin holes in insulation will not show up on a 3 volt ohmmeter, but at a few hundred volts will arc through to something else.

When you shut off an inductive load it can produce spikes of thousands of volts.

 

Sent using Tapatalk

 

 

 

[palayman]

1 hour ago, larryllix said:

You may need to use an insulation testers. Pin holes in insulation will not show up on a 3 volt ohmmeter, but at a few hundred volts will arc through to something else.

When you shut off an inductive load it can produce spikes of thousands of volts.

 

Sent using Tapatalk

 

 

 

Actually it doesn't happen when anything is being switched.  I leave and come back a few days later and the breaker has tripped. Have checked for heat and for arcing, but can't find any evidence.

[larryllix]

30 minutes ago, palayman said:

Actually it doesn't happen when anything is being switched.  I leave and come back a few days later and the breaker has tripped. Have checked for heat and for arcing, but can't find any evidence.

I had hard to find problems with this in my previous home. It was the GFCI breaker. The neutral wires arc to the ground wire and they always show a short circuit anyway so it cannot be found with a meter. When a bathroom fan is switched off the high voltage spike finds the pinhole or crack in the wiring. Hard to find other than to move suspected wiring around and see if it stops. Look for wiring bent sharply  right at the box clamp, and pinched wring behind large switchbox items like dimmers, inside switch boxes.  

[Techman]

You could have a defective breaker

Try removing power from  your keypad by pulling out the set lever to see if the problem could be coming from that device.

I would also take a hard look at your inline devices. Check your wiring to make sure no hot wires are exposed.