They all think I'm crazy for avoiding AFCIs in vintage wiring jobs

I was rewiring a 1920s house last week and said we should not put in AFCI breakers. My whole crew gave me weird looks. I know the rules say to use them, but in these old places, they trip too much from regular stuff like lamps and fans. A few months back, I got a call about a stove that kept killing the power. It was just the heating element cycling on, not a bad wire. Other sparkies tell me these breakers save homes from fires, and I get that for new work. With old systems like knob and tube, focusing on good joints and clean connections does more good. It gets to me when code feels disconnected from actual job sites.

3 comments

3 Comments

kaiking2d ago

Whoa, I totally get where you're coming from with the nuisance trips, but I have to push back on this one. Those breakers are looking for specific bad arc patterns that a simple lamp shouldn't cause (if the wiring is sound, you know?). The scary fires in old walls often start from a single nailed wire or a rotten junction box you'd never see. Good joints are key, sure, but they can't stop a fault you didn't know was there. The code feels like a pain until you're the one who finds the hidden box that was already cooking.

wren1142d ago

That line about the hidden box already cooking got me. I used to roll my eyes at AFCI requirements too. But @kaiking's right, it's about catching what you can't see before it's too late.

danielblack1d ago

You ever put in an AFCI just to watch it trip when someone turns on a ceiling fan? Makes me feel like I'm the problem, not the wiring... and that's saying something. @kaiking has a point about the hidden faults, even if it drives us nuts. Old systems are so finicky that good connections might not catch everything. Still, wrestling with these breakers on a Friday afternoon is its own kind of hell.