Patent ID: 8159362

Claim:
A faulted circuit indicator comprising: i) a housing; ii) a current acquisition circuit disposed within the housing, the current acquisition circuit adapted to monitor current within a conductor; iii) an adjustable trip circuit coupled to the current acquisition circuit and producing a trip output when the monitored current exceeds a trip level; iv) a persistent memory component disposed within the housing, the persistent memory component storing a fault indication curve comprising a plurality of associated fault current levels and fault times, wherein each fault current level is a current level which when exceeded by the monitored current for the duration of the associated fault time, indicates a current fault; and v) a processor disposed within the housing and coupled to the adjustable trip circuit and the persistent memory component, the processor adjusting a the trip level of the adjustable trip circuit after a time period has elapsed and based on the fault indication curve and producing a fault signal based on the trip output and the fault indication curve.