Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

The primary causes of Arc Flash

June 7, 2009 by Jeff  
Filed under Arc Flash, Electrical Safety, Featured

Potential causes of an Arc Flash or Arcing Fault may include:

Workers mistakenly dropping tools on live parts
Pests entering switchgear through openings
Faulty operation of a load break switch
Dust or moisture accumulating to weaken air insulated bus bars
Improper use of test equipment

From personal experience onsite and reading incident reports, the last three are the ones that are [...]

Arc Flash Hazard

April 10, 2008 by Jeff  
Filed under Definitions

When an electric current passes through air between ungrounded conductors or between ungrounded and grounded conductors, the temperatures can reach 35000F.
Exposure to these extreme temperatures both burns the skin and causes the ingnition of clothing. Each year more than 2000 people are admitted to burn centers with severe arc-flash burns.
An arc-flash can and do [...]

What is NFPA 70E

April 9, 2008 by Jeff  
Filed under NFPA70E

According to the title of the NFPA 70E standard it is the “Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace”. And that is just what it is. Now the better question would have been, do I need to understand NFPA 70E in my workplace?
Or how does NFPA 70E apply to me?
The typical workplaces that [...]

Welcome to the Sparky Resource

April 5, 2008 by Jeff  
Filed under General Electrical

Welcome to the site.  Sparky Resource is my pet project to discuss Arc Flash and all related matters.  I will be posting articles about NFPA, IEEE and other related materials.  Solutions, problems and news.
I hope to discuss the topic with little if any “sales prejudice” since I am a consulting engineer for a medium sized [...]