Benefits of arc safe electrical testing system

 The newly patented Arc Safe Electrical Testing System will become the #1 choice for energized electrical testing. It is the future of testing & commissioning electrical equipment within the manufacturing, construction and maintenance industry. The danger of exposure to energized electrical equipment is real, as there are 30,000 arc flash incidents occur annually; arc flash burns maim thousands with 35,000*degree F flashes and flying shrapnel, hospitalize 5-7 people each day and kill +400 persons each year. These hazards prompted the changes within the 2018 NFPA 70E that have restricted electricians who comply, from performing unsafe energized electrical testing, maintenance, and accessing or working on energized electrical equipment. The newly implemented requirements regarding not only testing an energized electrical panel, but simply removing the cover from an energized panel now require hours of labor, obtaining an engineered short circuit arc flash coordination study, compiling a MOP, and drafting an AHA, and finally donning energized electrical CAT 2, 3 or CAT 4 arc rated suit with balaclava hood. After the breaker has been closed for the first time, all of this is eliminated by utilizing the newly patented fuse first test leads incorporated with the Arc Safe Electrical Testing System. We are confident this will become the new “Seat belt” of the electrical testing industry. It has been designed to be as safe & easy to use as a typical plug tester, and yes, it has already proven in the field to be more than 10 x faster and more efficient than utilizing the very cumbersome and very costly wireless remote Bluetooth sync style test equipment.

The Arc Safe Electrical Testing System is a complete system for the start-Up and commissioning of new electrical systems as well as the testing and troubleshooting of existing electrical systems and can be used for general maintenance and integrity testing. It is designed specifically to eliminate the dangers involved in the testing, start-up and commissioning operations resulting from an arc flash blast caused by an accidental short circuit or failure in equipment. There are two basic system components, a patented set of fused test leads and an insulated plug-in testing platform that provide the user with a safe way to measure the electrical energy with all covers in place at a safe distance away from the arc flash hazardous boundary, while still enabling the user to get accurate contact measurements. Currently, this system includes two styles of test leads and two styles of testing platforms. All test leads will utilize a newly manufactured; insulated Arc Safe 5-Pole female receptacle. Both test platforms will utilize a newly manufactured; Arc Safe 5-Pole male plug, to be compatible with the female counterpart. 

The patented test leads that are designed to test all existing electrical equipment consist of a set of 5-Pole clamp style test leads that are 6’ ft. – 9’ ft. in length and typically will have an in-line 600v .5 –1 amp fuse in a fuse cartridge attached to the clamp. The second style will be designed for permanent installation and will have a 600v .5-1 amp fuse directly attached to a ring terminal at the first point of contact that protects the user from an accidental short circuit. The test leads terminate directly into the newly manufactured Arc Safe 5- Pole female receptacle, exclusive to the Arc Safe Electrical Testing System. 

To utilize these test leads, they must be plugged directly into one of the two styles of testing platforms. The purpose of designing two styles of test platforms is cost. The test platform shown will be a newly manufactured 5-Pole Arc safe AC/DC voltmeter with phase sequence rotation and frequency. As currently, no manufacturer offers this combination in a single test meter. The second style/type of test platform as shown is designed to make it possible to safely use existing DMMs & phase rotation meters currently manufactured by a variety of companies. With a price suited for the individual electrician, as well as making connections to a variety of test apparatus, at a fraction of the cost of the aforementioned. 

The second style of patented test leads; with ring terminals as shown in every possible electrical configuration is designed to be installed permanently into new and existing equipment, this would provide the installer as well as the owner with optimum safety. These can be manufactured and sold at such a reasonable cost that it would be cheaper for an electrical contractor, or facilities owner to provide and install them in electrical equipment that exceeds 1.2 CAL. of incident energy simply to avoid the danger of exposing their electricians to the potential of an Arc flash explosion, as well as the cost of the time lost to donning the required PPE and compiling all information to compose an MOP for performing the often-required start-up testing of equipment. The electrical contractor could offer to provide and install the arc-safe test leads as a change to the contract for the safety of the owner’s maintenance crew. As once this style of test leads has been installed it will not be necessary to open or remove the doors and covers of the electrical equipment as the test plug will remain permanently accessible from the outside of the equipment. This permanent test receptacle will be manufactured with 1-1/4” NPT threads for installation into any electrical equipment utilizing a standard 1-1/4” electrical K.O. The receptacle will be gasketed and have a removable threaded WP protective cap to maintain a NEMA 4 rating while not in use. 

The danger of working on energized electrical is the exposure to the live energized components of the electrical equipment. This system is designed to keep  electricians, technicians and maintenance workers safe from the arc flash boundary with all covers in place while testing the electrical equipment. With no need to perform a shut-down for the installation of test leads, or remote wireless modules as the testing can take place anytime without interruption to power. 

The benefits of utilizing the system

1. Life safety of personal, the inherent hazards of an Arc Blast can cause life-threatening burns and it is estimated that personnel cannot survive exposure to Incident energy over 40 CAL/ even with the best-known existing PPE  as the concussion could be enough to interrupt a person’s heart rhythm. This product can reduce the incident energy from some of the most dangerous equipment from +200 CAL/cm2 to less than 0.50 CAL/cm2, which is less than the 1.2 CAL/cm2 threshold at which you will have the onset of second-degree burns and ignition of flammable clothing. Safety First.  

2. Cost of testing is greatly reduced as this test equipment provides the fastest test results with the minimum PPE by reducing the incident energy to a level below 0.50 CAL and making it as simple and safe as testing an average receptacle with a plug tester. 

3. Simplicity, the test equipment is simple with no complex training involved for installation or testing, again saving time which saves money.

4. Cost of the product will be much less expensive than the newly designed remote wireless Bluetooth testers which have to be carefully installed and then synced, and also require relocating the leads on the devices during testing or purchasing 9 separate remotes to do the full spectrum of voltage testing on a 3- Pole, 5 wire system. And still does not provide the phase sequence/rotation feature.

5. Long-term cost for owners permanently installed test leads will reduce the cost of maintenance with ease of verification and troubleshooting while providing maximum safety for all facility’s operation and maintenance personnel, without performing a shut-down. 

6. Accuracy of testing: This system safely provides direct contact test results.

7. New feature not previously offered, the specially designed 5-Pole Arc Safe Digital Multimeter: This device offers all of the required testing that third party commissioning agents are interested in verifying and documenting during the commissioning and initial start-up of electrical equipment. Phase sequence/rotation, frequency, line to ground, line to neutral, and phase to phase verification of all conductors/bussing as applied.  

8. Time is money, and all of this test equipment saves time while providing optimum safety. 

9. Versatility, this test equipment can be utilized on all electrical equipment from Industrial size substations, transformers, distribution switchgear, distribution switchboards, distribution panel, branch panels, safety disconnects, motor starters, generators, transformers, & VFDs made by any manufacturer. It can even be utilized to test the PTs on high voltage & medium voltage primary & secondary substations making a connection to the PTs and utilizing the ratio of the windings, and simple math, accurate voltage measurements can be made. The test equipment can also be utilized for some of the most dangerous equipment found within the modern-day data centers, the high output PDUs, the high output UPS modules, and the battery plants supplying the emergency backup +500vdc power to the aforementioned modules. The permanent style test leads are so inexpensive and versatile that you can install them in pairs on equipment to both the line & load side of the equipment to verify & monitor the operation and condition of motor starters, fuses, & the output from VFDs, PTs, CTs, etc.   

Specifications; How does the product work 

The incident energy is determined by the ampacity & size of the service, the available fault current, the circular mils of the bussing & conductors, the length of the conductors, the overcurrent protective device used, and the settings and the speed in which it can trip or open the circuit. And the most important is the distance in which the personnel is located from the exposure. This system reduces the exposure by utilizing small gauge wiring that is protected at the point of connection by a miniature HRC fast-blowing fuse. And keeps the personnel at a safe distance from the exposed source by allowing you to position yourself adjacent to and away from the Arc flash boundary. The system will be manufactured of the highest quality tinned copper wiring, with the most durable insulation similar to SIS wiring. The individual strands of the wiring will be colored for identification and then protected by an additional heat shrink jacket to ensure protection from damage. The newly manufactured 5-Pole receptacles will be fully insulated with durable non-breaking materials and have tinned copper contacts. The male and female plugs will be keyed for positive orientation with their respective counterparts.  Although all details are not shown on the artwork the newly manufactured female receptacles will be standardized and exclusively unique to the Arc Safe Electrical line of test equipment, the female plug for both styles of teat lead (clamp style for temporary connection) and (ring terminal style for permanent installation) will be manufactured with ¾” NPT threads and fit into a standard ¾” electrical K.O. and will be provided with a gasket & WP threaded cap. The Male plug for all Arc Safe Electrical test platforms will be manufactured from durable Insulated materials, that do not break or crack. They will be manufactured to the safety requirements as dictated by the ANSI + ISA + S82.02.01-1999 or greater. Although not shown on the artwork they will have an insulated arc shield surrounding the pin terminals that will fit into a groove on the female receptacle and have a free spinning ¾” NPT female knurled thumb screw gland that will draw the plugs together for a positive connection that will not allow the plug to drop out during the testing operation. Once this system has been tested and listed by UL, we are confident it will become the number 1 choice for start-up, testing, commissioning and maintenance in all facilities.