AFCI - Breaker keeps tripping.

sounds like you have shot somewhere.. I am no help sorry.

Yeah, tried this troubleshooting method this earlier. Think the AFCI is telling the truth. Regular breaker stayed on for several minutes....then a pop....then the breaker tripped.

Lots of renovation. Installed new sheathing and siding as well. The possibilty of nicking a wire is there and seems the most likely now.

Now to track it down. Hopefully it is an easy stretch to replace.

Have a couple that are friends/family that have given some direction. None live in the area to come and look at it to give a definite answer

Make sure nothing is plugged into the circuit and make sure the breaker is off.

Use an ohm meter to check for a short by touching the leads to the black wire and white wire. Then black to ground. Then white to ground.

If there is a short. Start unhooking wires from each outlet, switch, light, etc. And then check for the short using the same method.

This well help you figure out what stretch of wire your short is in.

Now if you dont find a short with the ohm meter, theres a possibility its arching somewhere. That's a little hard to find.

In that case, you can start with leaving the outlet, switch, whatever the the line runs to first connected. Then unhooking the rest of the circuit that feeds the other outlets, etc.

Cut the power on and see if it trips. If it doesnt, the. You know that stretch is good.

Then go to the next outlet etc and do the same thing. Keep working down the line until it trips. That well help you locate the stretch were it may be arching.

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Unfortunately without specific test equipment that's generally beyond what even a dedicated DIYer would invest in, it's hard to trace live wire faults inside of walls, attics, etc.

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All you need is a multimeter with the ability to test resistance (ohm meter). They are like 20 bucks or so.


Eta: walmart 12 bucks.

LINK

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Use an ohm meter to check for a short by touching the leads to the black wire and white wire. Then black to ground. Then white to ground.

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There is a reasonably good chance that white and ground are bonded at the main box so that would read like a short anyway. But black to white should give you an infinite reading if nothing is connected to the circuit. If it reads anything, verify nothing is plugged in or switched on. Any coil on the circuit may look a lot like a short,

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There is a reasonably good chance that white and ground are bonded at the main box so that would read like a short anyway. 

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Yeah, that's true.

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Best thing to do is get rid of that arc fault breaker and install a normal one

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Did that. Blew the normal breaker after about 20 minutes. Heard a muffled *pop* before the old style breaker blew.

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Removed the wires from the breaker. Got scared it would burn it down.

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If you pulled the wires from the breaker, then the white should show infinite to ground as well as the black. Any current reading between any pair indicates a problem.

Since it take so long, I would suspect it is something plugged/wired into the circuit, though a "bleed" to ground could cause this issue (a nail or such that just nicked a wires insulation). Do you have anything on the circuit like dimmer switches, lighted switches or maybe outlets with lights or usb power plug ins? Is it possible that circuit powers up anything in the attic or a doorbell transformer? Just trying to think what may be causing the issues. Another possibility is you have some loose connections but that would likely only cause an issue if it is powering something.

These types of issues are a PIA. If you can afford to do it, calling an electrician may save you some headaches.