Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Gap around recessed lights??

Hello,
I have been having a discussion on the insulating forum with another gentleman about my problem. Part of it involves my electrical. I live in ND and the temps can vary wildly from day to day. I have a bit of a moisture problem in my attic that I am trying to remedy. The gentleman I am talking to in the insulating forum has mentioned I need to take care of the holes I must have in my attic where I have warm air leaking and causing this condensation. I think some may be around my lights as i had this happen, again, this morning that when i turn them on they blow the arch fault breaker in my basement.

I have 2 sets of lights on this breaker and each has caused this breaker to blow in the last week. My guess is i have a leak around each set of lights some place in my attic?

My question is, what can I use to go around these lights to seal them up? I see on the back of the spray foam(greatstuff) cans that they can withstand heat of up to 240 degrees. Dow says, however, not to put it by recessed lights. Any recommendations on a reason these lights might be setting off this breaker or what you may have used around lights to seal them up?

Thanks for the help.

I do not think the arc fault is tripping from your air leakage. The wiring need to be checked. How old is this installation?

IC rated housing should have been installed. Your area may also require the use of air-tight housings and trims.

The gap around your fixtures should be no greater than 1/8". If it is greater it should be patched. I might suggest drywall compound.

The insulation is blown fiberglass and is only around a year to a year and a half old. Brand new house.

The lights are IC rated but I don't know if they are air tight.

I think, the gaps are causing warm air to leak and hit the cold air in the attic causing condensation. I am wondering if there is condensation building in the housing for the light too causing this to trip?

Can you tell me how i would trip an arc fault type breaker? I don't know the differences or how I would trip one and a normal breaker wouldn't trip?

Arc fault breakers have two additional trip mechanisms over standard breakers. The first is they will trip on a spark such as the type caused by a frayed cord. The second is that they will trip just like a GFCI if either the hot or neutral leaks to ground greater than 30mA. Class A GFCI, such as those used in a kitchen or bath, trip on 5mA so these are much less sensitive than the usual GFCI.

It is possible that condensation could cause the tripping problem, but it seems pretty unlikely to me. I think you should try isolating the can lights by temporarily disconnecting any other receptacles on this circuit to see if the breaker tripping persists. One trick to deal with condensation in outdoor fixtures is to orient all of your wirenuts in the fixture boxes pointing up so they are "hats" instead of "cups" allowing condensation to drain out if it forms. This might help if it does turn out to be a condensation problem.

If it does, I would next try replacing the AFCI breaker. Although they have improved a lot in the last few years many of the AFCI manufacturers have had recalls and product failures in the past.

Almost all of the AFCI trouble I encounter comes from a bad or faulty appliance (lamp, electric blanket, fridge, fan, etc), loose connection at a receptacle backstab, or a wire staple or box clamp that was installed too tight and broke the wire.

Thanks for the explanation and the recommendations. I will give them a try and if i have further problems, will drop another not to the forum.