Patent ID: 6927579

Claim:
A system for detecting and locating parallel arcing faults in a set of wires, the voltage at which a parallel arcing fault occurs being below a predetermined test voltage level, each parallel arcing fault producing two or more electromagnetic waveforms and ultrasonic emissions, each electromagnetic waveform having a leading edge, the system comprising: a first device coupled to the set of wires for applying a current to a wire under test while grounding the remaining wires of the set of wires so as to charge a capacitance defined between the wire under test and the remaining wires up to the predetermined testing voltage, the first device being adapted to locate the distance to the parallel arcing fault using one or more leading edges of one or more electromagnetic waveforms being conducted on the wire under test; a second device for locating and calculating the distance to the parallel arcing fault, the second device being comprised of a controller and two or more receivers, each receiver being electrically coupled to the controller for receiving one or more leading edges of one or more electromagnetic waveforms being radiated by the parallel arcing fault; and a third device for locating and calculating the distance to the parallel arcing fault, the third device being adapted to sense one or more leading edges of one or more electromagnetic waveforms as well as the ultrasonic emissions emitted from the parallel arcing fault.