So after the last round of electrical storms, we have a handful of breakers that need to be replaced (they keep tripping). The ones currently in the box that I need to replace are Siemens 15amp QAF AFCI.

Do I have to replace with the EXACT same one? I accidentally bought a QAF2. Is that okay? Can I just buy a normal 15 amp breaker that isn't like $50 each and replace with that? (I won't be replacing them, my husband will)

histag10 said:

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So after the last round of electrical storms, we have a handful of breakers that need to be replaced (they keep tripping). The ones currently in the box that I need to replace are Siemens 15amp QAF AFCI.

Do I have to replace with the EXACT same one? I accidentally bought a QAF2. Is that okay? Can I just buy a normal 15 amp breaker that isn't like $50 each and replace with that? (I won't be replacing them, my husband will)

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Normal breaker will work fine. When/if you sell it, it will need new arc fault breakers to meet code but nothing requires you to install them while you are living there.

Pretty sure she is not in the city and doubt there would be any issue even at sale. Believe afci still only required in bedrooms by current code. They are subject to nuisance trips at the best of time so it may not be lightning issues

While you're in there, maybe consider adding a whole home surge protector. Just a thought.

UmustBKidding said:

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Pretty sure she is not in the city and doubt there would be any issue even at sale. Believe afci still only required in bedrooms by current code. They are subject to nuisance trips at the best of time so it may not be lightning issues

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It would trip about every 30 minutes, and only started after the storms.

The one we put in says CAFCI instead of AFCI, which all the other ones are.

And you are correct- we are not in the city

Thank yall for the knowledge and advice. We put the QAF2 breaker in last night, and it seems to have fixed the issue and fit with no problem

UmustBKidding said:

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Pretty sure she is not in the city and doubt there would be any issue even at sale. Believe afci still only required in bedrooms by current code. They are subject to nuisance trips at the best of time so it may not be lightning issues

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I'm pretty sure it's now any living areas, but one of our resident electrical gurus can confirm. In our remodel that was in 2019 we had to have AFCI breakers for all areas except a storage closet and the utility room/closet.

Somewhere about the 2017 code cycle the AFCI requirement went from bedrooms to everywhere. AFCI's create a love/hate relationship with added protection versus PITA nuisance tripping. If the circuit had one to begin with, you'd have to go back with one or, as noted, deal with it if/when a home inspector noted it when selling the house.

The QAF2 looks like the new version of the QAF. The CAFCI is a combination AFCI. It looks for both parallel and series arc faults. You can go from AFCI to CAFCI, but theoretically not the other way around - purely from an administrative code perspective. They both work, one just works "better".

And replacing breakers won't trigger the need to upgrade to AFCI's everywhere if they weren't initially installed as such.