e57
Senior Member
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
OK - can someone tell me why there are ~$40 CB's out there that can apparently detect 3 different conditions - series/parallel arcing, and ground faults between 10-30ma - yet there is no DIAGNOSTIC TOOL out there to tell you which one or to what degree, or where or how to find it!?!?!?
Seriously - the breaker sensed it - right? (Even though you can put a breaker in of another manufacturer, or the same model and make different lot number and it may not trip at all - ever... As many operate on different parameters... :roll: ) But no tool that will tell you what made it trip.... Some have installed what I call "idiot lights" for AF vs GF tripping - but how decisive is an LED on a breaker you have little trust in - in the first place?
I know there is one member who will pop in and say - megger! But there are those of us who have meggers available and found no problems and still have problems.....
And there are those of us who know how to operate a phone - and have called only to find that "equipment conflicts" were the problem all along.... As there are a number of variable speed motor controls, ballasts, and electronic power supplies that I have had two manufactures admit will not work on their products. Call and ask Tech Support and ask for "Known Equipment Conflicts" and have the make and model number available for them to check the list that they refuse to publish and they will tell you if it is on there YET!
I know there data loggers out there that can pick up all types of current and wave form distortion for display - but the investment in that is pretty up there for most of us in small-mid sized firms... But even then I wonder if they would pick up the combination of AF/GF conditions? Apparently there is a specific wave form that the cheap breaker is looking for - right?
Then there are these so-called testers that apparently 'simulate' an arc fault with a few high-current pulses - but a number of us have noticed that they don't trip every breaker, or are they suited legally to do so as an "Approved" testing method - just the 'test button' on the breaker it self.... So what is that 'test button' doing anyway?????
So what are we to do? Twiddle our thumbs every time this shows up? Take wild guesses in 5 directions until we find what the the $40 breaker cant tell us reliably in the first place?
Seriously - the breaker sensed it - right? (Even though you can put a breaker in of another manufacturer, or the same model and make different lot number and it may not trip at all - ever... As many operate on different parameters... :roll: ) But no tool that will tell you what made it trip.... Some have installed what I call "idiot lights" for AF vs GF tripping - but how decisive is an LED on a breaker you have little trust in - in the first place?
I know there is one member who will pop in and say - megger! But there are those of us who have meggers available and found no problems and still have problems.....
And there are those of us who know how to operate a phone - and have called only to find that "equipment conflicts" were the problem all along.... As there are a number of variable speed motor controls, ballasts, and electronic power supplies that I have had two manufactures admit will not work on their products. Call and ask Tech Support and ask for "Known Equipment Conflicts" and have the make and model number available for them to check the list that they refuse to publish and they will tell you if it is on there YET!
I know there data loggers out there that can pick up all types of current and wave form distortion for display - but the investment in that is pretty up there for most of us in small-mid sized firms... But even then I wonder if they would pick up the combination of AF/GF conditions? Apparently there is a specific wave form that the cheap breaker is looking for - right?
Then there are these so-called testers that apparently 'simulate' an arc fault with a few high-current pulses - but a number of us have noticed that they don't trip every breaker, or are they suited legally to do so as an "Approved" testing method - just the 'test button' on the breaker it self.... So what is that 'test button' doing anyway?????
So what are we to do? Twiddle our thumbs every time this shows up? Take wild guesses in 5 directions until we find what the the $40 breaker cant tell us reliably in the first place?