Zooz Zen 24 Dimmer Switches and Arc Fault Breakers?

After numerous tries and swapping switches around I am turning to you guys.

Does anyone have the Zooz Z-Wave Plus Dimmer Toggle Switch ZEN24 working with Arc Fault Breakers?

Here is my situation. Home is two years old and with the normal toggle switch for the lights there is no tripping. I have two PC’s running and 4 LED can lights on with no problems at all.

Once I install the Zen24 it will trip with a Arc Fault Detection lit up on a Siemens breaker. Thought it might have been a bad switch so I swapped it with another one. Neutral is on the same circuit and connections are as tight as can be.

If I have one PC and the lights on there is no tripping. If I have two PCs on and the lights there is tripping. Sometimes right away, sometimes 3 mins in and sometimes as long as an hour. If I have the two PCs on and no lights there is no tripping.

I thought maybe it was an overload but there is no way doing the math with a meter it is way under.

They both work accordingly on a normal breaker.

I have read the GE’s work fine with the Arc Faults just trying to figure out if the Zooz Zens are compatible or not…any additional insight to troubleshooting would be awesome.

Thanks!

Tagging @TheSmartestHouse

Thanks. I have been in contact with them. Thought I would throw out a bigger net to see if anyone has been successful.

Their customer support is awesome though.

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Thanks @JDRoberts. As we understand and have already mentioned to James, arc breakers do have issues with electronic switches although this is the first recorded case for us where there seems to be a consistent problem with any Z-Wave switches tripping the breaker. Since arc breakers are now a requirement, we would expect to hear more about this if it were a global problem. We’ll try do some additional testing to see if we can replicate the behavior.

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I am going to continue to troubleshoot also. I appreciate all the support thus far.

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I would guess it’s not just one device is causing this problem. It’s probably caused by multiple devices leaking voltages or your wiring is not having good connections. Put a meter between ground and neutral and start unplugging one circuit at a time. You should get 0V while flipping switches or when everything ON.

And the switch adds to the leakage throwing it over board?

I will go around the outlets. I have about 5 outlets to pull out and double check. I am SOL on the cans since they are in the ceiling and no access.

Thanks I will try this. Narrowing it down is a hassle! LOL

Do you see any harm if I just throw the lights on a different non ARC breaker? I know it is not code but thought it would be a work around.

Well, it’s easier to test the circuit by unplugging things. Disconnecting wiring would be my last go.
Arc breaker is usually for receptacle so I don’t see any harm in moving your light circuit to another branch as long as you know what you are doing. Most room separate light circuit from receptacle circuit so not really sure why you have one Arc for the whole room.

Not sure what year NEC was used for my home but all the bedrooms have ARC Faults, including the lights and fans, the living room outlets and the office lights and outlets.

Maybe the electrician got lazy and just threw in the circuit as opposed to having its own non arc breaker. I did see that he does not have the living room lights on the same circuit.

Thanks

A few previous threads on this topic just in case they’re of any help

http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=166535

Thanks JD! I have read all those forums and tried to see if there was a rhyme or reason. One was a simple a light bulb…

Wanted to thank everyone for their input though.

I measured the neutral and the ground and there was no voltage. So it is probably a gremlin that I would never find.

I just ended up running a 15amp separate circuit for the lights. A couple hours later and 12 bucks all is well so far…

Thanks
James

The lightbulb one was the perfect example of why you need to isolate each draw on the circuit to see where the “short” might be. Because sometimes it is just a defective device plugged into a particular source.

Crazy, I know.

The only variable was the Z wave switch installed. So I am thinking it just did not place nice with the other electronics.

On a normal rocker switch everything was on and all was well.

All is well now on a different circuit non arc breaker.

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I also experienced issues with zen 24 Toggle Dimmer “Tripping Arc Fault Breaker”, had to switch to circuit with a conventional Breaker.
I still have been unable to “Pair” the zen 24 to My Smart Things Hub.

BTW, I am new to SmartThings and the community;)