Comments on: What is an Arc Fault Circuit Breaker? NEC Requirements Explained

By: Kenny Koehler

Kenny Koehler — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 11:35:03 +0000

That’s commonly called the “pigtail” wire and it’s an AFCI (Arc Fault) neutral. They come coiled and extra long in case you need to reach a neutral bus that’s further away from the breaker. It’s absolutely okay to clip that shorter.

If your breakers start tripping frequently, go ahead and replace them. I have had to replace three already in a panel that’s less than 3 years old thanks to the builder using the cheapest possible breakers. They start to trip once in a while and then get more and more frequent until they barely stay on at all.

By: Mike Nelson

Mike Nelson — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 03:46:03 +0000

What is the purpose of the curly/squiggly white wire on the breaker? We were having problems with the breakers in our new house tripping and the electrician cut off / straightened out all the wires. Our breakers don’t trip very often now (but they do still trip every now and then). Is this something that’s routinely done, or is it something that we should be concerned about?

By: James

James — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 19:19:29 +0000

What the NEC code says and what home builders do are completely different things, i’ve found out the hard way as a home owner of a house finished in 2013.
There is no legal remedy for it, you can’t take action against the county who is alleged to be responsible for enforcement of local, state and federal housing codes due to sovereign immunity clause. The builder is frequently not going to accept responsibility either.