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-   -   Circuit breaker malfunction (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=718447)

  • Nov 21, 2012, 08:00 PM
    tim43
    Circuit breaker malfunction
    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
  • Nov 21, 2012, 09:02 PM
    tkrussell
    A circuit breaker will not trip due to certain conditions such as loose connections. These seem as a load to a CB.
  • Nov 21, 2012, 09:32 PM
    tim43
    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.
  • Nov 22, 2012, 04:46 AM
    stanfortyman
    Quote:

    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
    Not 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.

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