View Full Version : Circuit breaker malfunction
tim43
Nov 21, 2012, 08:00 PM
I had my hot water heater short out arc and catch on fire and my breaker did not trip un till I had to do it to stop the fire. Also my smoke detecter wich it wired into my house did not go off. Is this a violation of the N.E.C or the fire code
tkrussell
Nov 21, 2012, 09:02 PM
A circuit breaker will not trip due to certain conditions such as loose connections. These seem as a load to a CB.
tim43
Nov 21, 2012, 09:32 PM
Connection wasn't loose the water heater shorted out then the appliance guy my property maniger sent reset the heaghter it started arcing and caught on fire.
stanfortyman
Nov 22, 2012, 04:46 AM
I had my hot water heater short out arc and catch on fire and my breaker did not trip un till I had to do it to stop the fire. Also my smoke detecter wich it wired into my house did not go off. is this a violation of the N.E.C or the fire codeNot sure why you are asking this specifically. I get the impression you are looking for someone to blame.
Not every failure or fire is caused by a code violation.
Things happen. How old is the house? Are you renting or own?
The SD could have been several things; someone turned off the breaker, backup battery died, someone unplugged it, etc.
As TK said, some arcing and other failures look like a load to a standard CB. Some older breakers were notorious for not tripping under some fault conditions.