This started happening last week. My Shark vacuum kept tripping my breaker. My wife smelled smoke coming from the vacuum so we assumed it had reached its end. I bought a new vacuum (same brand), thinking the problem would be fixed, but to no avail.
I've plugged it in everywhere in the house and it trips the different breakers. I plugged in other appliances, but they do not trip the breakers. I even plugged in an old Oreck vacuum, and it did not trip the breakers. Any thoughts?
In normal operation some electric motors like in vacuum cleaners can generate arcing that trips some arc fault breakers like yours. I have read that "newer" breakers are resistant to this but I have no experience.
You may need different or newer or better arc fault breakers. There are technical support numbers on the Eaton web site, maybe they can help you determine if they have a breaker that is compatible with your vacuum.
You may need to install one or two non-AF breakers for your vacuum.
I just moved in to a new house and have the same problem. I'd say it's not your vacuum, it’s lousy breakers from Eaton; they're good for commercial but not so good for residential. We had a problem with our brand new washing machine and electricians tried to tell me it was the unit. Funny, I ran an extension cord and it worked. The breaker flashed 6 times, I told him change it out. It was a bad breaker right out of the box, not like Seimen or Square D. Check the anode and make sure all the breakers are seated and all connections are tight.
I forgot to mention: go to Eaton's website and they will tell you what the flashing light code means, it goes from 1 blink to 6 and then you can go back and check what kind of fault you have.
