When and Why did a Short Become a Fault?

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Joethemechanic

Joethemechanic

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Electro-Mechanical Technician. Industrial machinery
When I was young they were "shorts". You said things like "It shorted to ground" or "The phases shorted together"

Now everything is a "fault".

How is fault any different than short?
 
Fault is a good term to distinguish the electrically trained from the untrained customer and thereby charge more for the repair. It puts you in a position of control.

"With careful diagnosis I can not find any shorts that you mentioned causing your fuse to blow. You do have an ungrounded conductor faulting to ground."

If they continue to question the difference throw in some lingo about circuit impedance and non time delay and instantaneous circuit protection coupled with some Ohms law formulas in whatever order you can remember them.
 
The difference is in the amount of resistance.

Bolted short - may make sense.
Arcing short - pretty much doesn't make sense.

It hurts to say a 'Ground Short' device.
 
Perhaps some definitions from IEEE will help

Arcing fault current:
A fault current flowing through an electrical arc plasma, also called arc fault current and arc current.

Available fault current:
The electrical current that can be provided by the serving utility and facilityowned electrical generating devices and large electric motors, considering the amount of impedance in the current path.

Bolted fault current:
A short circuit or electrical contact between two conductors at different potentials in which the impedance or resistance between the conductors is essentially zero.

Fault current:
A current that flows from one conductor to ground or to another conductor due to an abnormal connection (including an arc) between the two.
 
And here I was thinking thinking about how a long conductor could create a "short" in a circuit and the short would be longer than the intended circuit.

When I write I write "Fault" but when I speak "short" occasionally jumps out of my mouth.


The one that got me was when people used the term "Short" for any faulty piece of electrical equipment, even if it was an "open"
 
Right after the tee shirts with "We check for shorts" or "we will check your box" or what ever they were
 
And how come there is a "dead short" but I have never heard the term "dead fault"?

What term would you use to describe a zero resistance fault current path?
 
Joethemechanic said:
The one that got me was when people used the term "Short" for any faulty piece of electrical equipment, even if it was an "open"
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I get that all the time. Anything that does not work "must have a short in it"

I always considered a short circuit to be a path of low resistance that results in a high level of current flow as compared to the normal intended design of the circuit.

I consider a fault to be any condition where current flows where it was not intended, which can include "short circuits".
 
Joethemechanic said:
What term would you use to describe a zero resistance fault current path?
Click to expand...

zog said:
Perhaps some definitions from IEEE will help...

Bolted fault current:
A short circuit or electrical contact between two conductors at different potentials in which the impedance or resistance between the conductors is essentially zero.
Click to expand...

Bolted fault.

I believe zog answered that question already.:happyyes:
 
readydave8 said:
Even worse, around here they'll call and say they have a shortage.
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LMAO. "Okay, I'm sending more right over!"

I like the term "fault." It's technically accurate. It describes everything from a high resistance connection, to an open connection, to a phase to ground short circuit, to a neutral to ground short circuit. You name it "fault" covers it.

-John
 
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