GFCI's aren't supposed to trip in the presence of RF (normally). THis usually means one thing: it was cheaply made. I had a few up in the apartment while I was staying at the colorado center for the blind, and none of them reacted to RF at any power level. These units were also UL tested. One thing you might consider is getting an RF choke and putting the power lines through it. I had to do that with a GFCI unit here at the house in arizona. It was one of those cheap chinese made things that my room mate (and home owner) likes to get. Every time I keyed up on HF, it would go BANG with a loud snap and anything on that circuit would die. I pulled it out of the wall and unscrewed the wires, inserted them through a big teroid choke, remounted the wires and reinstalled the unit. It worked without fail after that. That was also the time I discovered that the ground lead was floating (I got zapped even with the breaker off). I tested some of the other plugs in this house and all of them see the sam results.

So, with that in mind, I have everything in my room isolated (neutral and hot only) with a separate ground bus to a 9 foot spike outside my room. I use this as my station ground and also electrical ground. it keeps equipment failure to a minimum.

-eric

On Nov 26, 2013, at 11:20 PM, Colin McDonald wrote:

> wow, that is very interesting.
> I've never had a GFCI pop in the presence of RF, but it's a really good 
> thing to be aware of.
> I haven't been around AFCI breakers with rf yet.
> I wonder if new automobiles have similar systems and if they are prone to 
> being tripped by RF...might prove rather interesting if they do start using 
> similar devices.
> 
> 73
> Colin, V A6BKX
> 
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Jim Gammon" <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2013 8:44 PM
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Arc Fault circuit breakers
> 
>> We moved into our house a little over a year ago.  It took me
>> several months before trying my Hf station on a temporary Alpha 1
>> antenna.  The first day I did, I blew 4 Arc Fault breakers in the
>> main panel.  It took me about 4 months to figure it out then a
>> few days ago I got this info from a friend from the ARRL.  This
>> may also help some of you guys.  The upshot was that I changed
>> out 4 arc fault breakers replacing them with regular ones and the
>> problems went away.  Here's what the ARRL said about it.  You
>> might find this interesting.
>> From today's ARRL newsletter
>> Your League: ARRL Helps Manufacturer to Resolve Arc Fault
>> Circuit Interrupter RFI Problems
>> The ARRL Lab has worked with a manufacturer of arc fault circuit
>> interrupter (AFCI) breakers to resolve complaints that Amateur
>> Radio RF was causing certain breaker models to trip
>> unnecessarily.  Like the more common ground fault circuit
>> interrupter (GFCI), the AFCI is a safety device.  Primarily
>> designed to detect problems that could result in a fire, AFCIs
>> detect potentially hazardous arc faults that result from often
>> unseen damage or poor connections in wiring and in extension
>> cords and cord sets.
>> "Several months ago we started receiving reports from amateurs
>> that when they transmitted, their AFCI breakers were tripping,"
>> said Mike Gruber, W1MG, the ARRL Lab's EMC specialist.  He noted
>> that the issue has been a topic of online ham radio discussions
>> as well as on homeowner sites; it seems that stray RF is not the
>> only thing that can cause a "nuisance trip" of an AFCI.  Gruber
>> pointed out that the National Electrical Code (NEC) already
>> requires AFCIs in some household circuits, but not all US
>> jurisdictions have adopted the requirement.
>> W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, with the AFCI test
>> stand.  [Mike Gruber, W1MG, photo]
>> Gruber said that as AFCIs became more common in new construction
>> in the US, reports started coming in that AFCIs in the vicinity -
>> not just in the radio amateur's home - would trip in the presence
>> of RF from an Amateur Radio transmitter.  While each
>> manufacturer's design is proprietary, most AFCIs detect arcs by
>> monitoring the shape of the alternating current waveform, changes
>> in current levels, voltage irregularities, and the presence of
>> high frequency emissions or "noise." The ARRL Lab dug into the
>> problem.
>> "Last summer we built a test fixture in which we could test any
>> type of circuit breaker," Gruber said.  It involved using W1AW as
>> an RF source.  Gruber said he bought one of "every AFCI that I
>> could get my hands on," but when the Lab began testing them
>> during W1AW transmissions, none of the devices tripped..
>> A ham in New Mexico who had reported AFCI problems sent some of
>> his breakers to the ARRL Lab, "and those tripped when we tested
>> them," Gruber said.  The problematic breakers were certain models
>> made by Eaton Corporation.  "We already had an Eaton breaker, an
>> older model, but it did not trip," he noted, adding that the
>> breaker had a yellow button.  The newer model, which had a white
>> button, did trip in the presence of RF, however, even at power
>> levels down to about 50 W on 17 meters.
>> Gruber contacted Eaton, and two of the manufacturer's engineers
>> visited ARRL Headquarters in August.  "Eaton was extremely
>> cooperative and eager to resolve this," Gruber recounted.  "They
>> spent the day with us, going over our test methods and took some
>> of the problematic breakers back with them, eventually developing
>> a modified version.
>> "We have just finished testing the new version of the breaker,
>> and it did not trip during W1AW transmissions and in other
>> tests," Gruber reported.  He said the new breaker is still in the
>> queue for UL approval.
>> Eaton Engineering Director Andy Foerster said arc fault detection
>> is challenging, in part because so many common household devices
>> - such as vacuum cleaners and power tools that use motors with
>> brushes - create arcing.  In information provided to ARRL Eaton
>> engineer Lanson Relyea said that because AFCIs rely on HF
>> emission detection to verify arcing, "any signal that conducts or
>> radiates a signal within the detection band of the AFCI can cause
>> interference and cause the device to trip without the presence of
>> a true arcing condition."
>> Eaton and ARRL agreed that when the manufacturer comes out with
>> any new models of breakers, it will ask the League to test them
>> at W1AW.  "It's a win-win situation," Gruber said.  Eaton also
>> has agreed to work with anyone having a problem with RF tripping
>> its AFCIs.
>> Hams experiencing unwanted tripping problems with their or their
>> neighbors' AFCIs should first contact the manufacturer.  In the
>> case of Eaton breakers, contact Bob Handickgg412-893-3746) or Joe
>> Fello (412-893-3745).  Read more.