Jim, I think there is a UL standard for AFCI's, that would probably be the best place to look for the test requirements for AFCI's. I do know that AFCI's are supposed to respond to arcing between lines, and that arcing has some type of frequency profile that very different from the standard 60 Hz current the GFCI looks at. -Camille Good Portland, Oregon
Jim Eichner <[email protected]> wrote: Experience with GFCI's has taught people to be careful with assumptions regarding their EMC immunity, and I have the same concerns times 10 with AFCI's. I someone wanted to do some testing on AFCI's, how would they do it? With a GFCI you can put a variable resistor from line to ground and run tests to make sure it does not trip until at least 4mA and does trip by 6mA. Pretty simple setup. For AFCI's I would imagine the pass/fail criteria and the test equipment needed are much more sophisticated. Does anyone have any information on what is required to do this testing, including any off-the-shelf test equipment available? Thanks, Jim Eichner, P.Eng. Compliance Engineering Manager Xantrex Technology Inc. e-mail: [email protected] web: www.xantrex.com Any opinions (zzht) expressed are (zzht) those of my invisible friend (zzht). Confidentiality Notice: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. From: [email protected] On Behalf Of Robert A. Macy Sent: Monday, May 29, 2006 9:39 PM To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: GFCI and High frequency (kHz) applications AFCI ?! It's about time ! I've related this before but it is timely again, concerning safety in the home. One afternoon my wife who was sitting on the edge of the bed at the time, called me over, saying, "Listen to this." There was a distinct "zzhht", "zzhht" sound coming from somewhere behind the night stand. The sound got louder, and became constant, until flames erupted up along the wall about six inches from the curtains. I pulled cords out of the outlet by their cords, which stopped it all, except for some "stinky" smoke. Upon investigation I found that the UL approved outlet and UL approved cord plugged into the outlet [not supplying power to anything at the time, simply plugged in] had sustained an arc between the blades. An arc that carbonized the plastic, sustaining the arc more. Not enough current to take out the 20A breaker, but enough current to BURN the plastics, ignite the plastics, and set up a potentially devastating fire. I was livid that UL approved items that would deteriorate in this manner. Upon checking with the local Fire Department, I found that this scenario was almost the number one cause of fires in homes - damage *and* loss of life. If we had not even been in the room, this could have gotten out of hand very quickly. So the AFCI function you describe is really worth it. PS. Since this experience I have embarked on an annual inspection/maintenance program for all electricals. Just didn't know how necessary it was before. - Robert - - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas [email protected] Mike Cantwell [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: [email protected] David Heald: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas [email protected] Mike Cantwell [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: [email protected] David Heald: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
