Schneider Electric SQUARE D QO115CAFIC QO15A Arc Fault Breaker

I had an AFCI breaker go bad and bought this to replace it. Easy to install and snapped right into my box. A perfect replacement and much cheaper than the local big box stores.

Works perfect

Worked great installed and works as expected

Arc Fault Circuit Breakers for Square D QO Load Centers This review is for non-electricians... I installed 18 one-pole AFCIs and 4 two-pole AFCIs in a 30-year-old house with a Square D QO load center and three QO sub-panels. I also replaced an old 12-space sub-panel with a Square D 24-space Plug-On Neutral Load Center. Pros: – breaker quality appears to be outstanding, but realistically, a customer has to trust Square D to have met design specs and for these breakers to last. The lifetime replacement warranty is a testament to the manufacturer’s confidence of quality. – these differ in appearance from standard (non-AFCI, non-GFCI) circuit breakers in that they are MUCH wider, have a test button, the white & black circuit wires attach directly to the breaker, and there is an integral 18" coiled white wire to be connected to the neutral bar. Con: – Some electric motors (e.g., tools, vacuum cleaners) cause these breakers to trip. Most of my electric tools run fine on an AFCI, but some don’t. The trip can occur instantly or after a short while. Some will run most of the time but will occasionally trip the AFCI breaker. These are false trips, and Square D needs to fix this issue. Their warranty is useless when the replacement breaker also trips. One star off for this defect is a gift – as this defect renders it impossible to meet the new AFCI code in all rooms when you have Square D load centers. Other: – If the breakers are to be installed in your main panel, which typically can’t de-electrified, you need to be comfortable working with hot wires nearby. If not, hire an electrician. If working on a sub-panel, consider cutting power to that sub-panel before beginning work. AFCI breakers are about as simple to install as a light switch. Square D “plug-on neutral” breakers are easier/quicker to install and result in less wiring clutter within a panel, since they lack the pig-tail white neutral wire – BUT, they only work in a Plug-On Neutral Square D Load Center. – If buying a new Square D load center, get the plug-on style since plug-on or non-plug-on Square D breakers work in them. The difference with the plug-on style load center is in the black breaker assembly where the circuit breakers are attached; i.e., the outer breaker snap rods are steel (rather than plastic) and those rods are electrically connected to the neutral bar. – While you have a load center cover off, you might want to re-tighten all neutral hold-down screws and existing breaker hold-down screws, as they may have loosened over time. Loose connections can result in arcing. – In my State, no electrical permit is required for a homeowner to replace circuit breakers, light switches, receptacles, light fixtures, etc. – Remove the load center cover to determine if there are any multi-wire circuits (MWC), before ordering AFCI breakers. (See comments for details.) Single pole AFCI breakers trip if installed on either half of a MWC; i.e., MWC circuits require two-pole AFCI breakers. – Upon installation or soon thereafter, a AFCI breaker may trip – see comments for resolution options. Summary: All 22 QO AFCI breakers worked fine, except as noted above. Should one go bad in the future, Square D has that lifetime warranty on the product. A wealthy Maryland family was killed in an electrical house fire recently. Their home was built prior to county code requiring sprinklers or AFCI circuit breakers. That fire convinced me that it was time to add arc-fault protection to our home’s breaker panels.

Works good. No multi trips to basement like the 2 pole mbwc ones . Better off with single breakers if possible; better neutral load correlation, and still made unlike the short production run of the others. Seen a lot of afci trips in my many days; here’s wisdom, always look for the device that clunks first, think relay contact in timers start loads etc . In fridges , timers, gdo, etc they go slowly before device fail but afci picks up on it and nuisance trip. Dimmers next, Then checkall connections in circuit after this. Then led bulb swap, and simple switch swap these 2 not really nuisance oriented though. On 2 pole 240 circuit always test neutral first, toaster on one leg not much on other leg except plug in volt tester and voltage better not show high or low voltage change above when toaster on or off. Finally compatibility if new items added and worn motors thatstart to ground trip or arc trip over time . These breakers have a test procedure to indicate “sort of” the issue get familiar with the procedure. You’ve never been so protected , how did we ever live without it.