Patent ID: 7808128

Claim:
A method for remotely detecting a failure of a particular network protector within a particular underground vault to act in accordance with a set of rules for opening and closing a network protector circuit breaker, the method comprising: installing at least two sets of measurement devices; a first set of measurement devices in communication with a local control system for a particular network protector, the local control system used with the set of rules for opening and closing the network protector circuit breaker; and a second set of measurement devices not used by the local control system for the particular network protector; installing a transmitter for use in conveying information about the particular network protector located within a particular underground vault to a remote receiver; receiving at the transmitter, inputs representing conditions on both a load side and a transformer side of the particular network protector for a particular phase of multiphase power on a secondary side of a transformer including measurements from the second set of measurement devices; creating a digital data structure containing digital representations of the conditions on both the load side and transformer side of the particular network protector for the particular phase of multiphase power on the secondary side of the transformer; transmitting the digital data structure; receiving the digital data structure at the remote receiver; and using information including measurements from the second set of measurement devices in the digital data structure of the digital representations of the conditions on both the load side and the transformer side of the particular network protector after reception at the remote receiver to assess whether the local control system for the particular network protector is acting in accordance with the set of rules for opening and closing the network protector circuit breaker.