Arc Fault Confusion

[McKazz]

I'll try to make a long story short. 15amp arc fault dedicated line to one bedroom. Randomly started tripping after 10 years. Thought perhaps the breaker was bad, replaced breaker. Several things plugged into outlet last night and worked fine...plug in the TV (old tube style in my kids room) and pop goes the breaker. Unplugged everything from outlets, plugged in TV and pop. Can plug in lights, DVD player, etc but when TV is plugged in, doesn't matter the rec, it trips the breaker.

Took arc from different bedroom and attached the line. Popped that one too so it not the breaker, it's in the line. Pulled every receptacle, checked for loose wiring, etc. Decided to do a process of elimination and break the circuit starting with rec #1. TV again tripped the breaker. Also tried an electric heater to see if the TV was in fact defective but the heater also tripped it. Again, this is a direct line, it does not go into a junction box. Any ideas you may have are much appreciated because I'm stumped!

[JP]

Ever since the arc fault breaker has hit the market there has been issues like this, and I believe it to be a combination of the sensitivity of the breaker and the item be powered by it.  If the breaker sees some type of arc in the device it trips. Motors are the usual problem, but I can see how an old TV can be an issue also, but another old TV not being a problem. A few years back I ran a service call on an arc fault breaker tripping and the only thing connected to it was smoke detectors and no reason could be found as to why, the home owner changed it to a regular breaker and has never had a problem.

A loose connection tends to generate an arc and under the right conditions can cause a fire, once all the connection points in the circuit have been checked, the circuit should be good, I guess there is an outside chance that the cable itself could have a defect or could have been installed poorly, example would be a staple in the wire.

The only other thing I can think of is to make sure whatever you plug in is off before you plug it in, and that the plug is secure and not loose.

[McKazz]

Thanks for the reply. After talking to a few folks, they have also suggested switching to a regular breaker due to the sensitivity. The line has been in place for 10 yrs and suddenly acted up. No internal house construction, no new nails, screws in the wall, nothing. My wife got a new TV for the room and for some reason it worked...for a few hours at least. Then trip, trip, trip.10 min, 40 min, 30 mins. All random...no new load on the line.