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I have condo unit built in 2020 and for the past year I've been using a TP-Link TL-PA9020P powerline Ethernet adapter set with one adapter on one circuit and another on a different circuit. They work perfectly and neither breaker has ever tripped, however the "Arc Fault" LED indicator light on both breakers have been blinking indefinitely.

The breakers are Siemens QAF2 AFCI (possibly this model). I've found this troubleshooting card which says that the LED indicator will show the last trip condition for up to 30 days after being turned on. I've also found this answer to a question about Eaton breakers where they say that if one of those breakers has never tripped then it's likely just showing a trip condition from factory testing. However, in my case I'm guessing that the continued use of the powerline Ethernet adapters is what's causing the LED indicator lights to blink indefinitely.

My questions:

  1. Are there any risks to continuing to use these powerline Ethernet adapters?
  2. Would the lights blinking indefinitely prevent me from being alerted to potential arc-fault-related issues which may not cause the breaker to trip but would be important to know about?

Siemens AFCI breakers Arc Fault LED lights blinking

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  • That card says the LED will show for 5 seconds after the breaker is turned on. It doesn't explain why the LED would be flashing continuously. This question is for GE breakers, but seems like a duplicate: https://diy.stackexchange.com/q/113655/43874 – JPhi1618 Nov 08 '21 at 17:58
  • @JPhi1618 are the codes for GE & Siemens AFCI breakers the same? I'm asking because I honestly don't know. – FreeMan Nov 08 '21 at 18:14
  • @FreeMan All I can find on this doesn't mention continuous blinking on either breaker as an actual code, and the resolution given is to reset the last known failure in both cases. I'm open to a better answer if someone knows - I just can't find it right now. – JPhi1618 Nov 08 '21 at 18:20
  • Dumb guess, but from what I remember, AFCIs work by looking for high frequency noise caused by arcs, so perhaps the high frequency modulated signal of powerline communications (HomePlug runs in the 2–90 MHz range) is indeed looking "like an arc" to them, or just jamming the detection in general? – user1686 Nov 08 '21 at 22:56

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