Patent ID: 8067946

Claim:
A method for repairing a transmission line in an electrical power distribution system comprising a transmission line having at least one feeder line and a plurality of faulted circuit indicators connected to the transmission line, wherein each of the faulted circuit indicators comprises a housing disposed at the transmission line, a fault indicator disposed at the housing for indicating whether a fault condition has occurred on the transmission line and a display disposed at the housing for indicating a state of the transmission line, the method comprising the steps of: determining from a first faulted circuit indicator whether the fault condition has occurred; determining from a fault indicator disposed at the housing of the first faulted circuit indicator and a fault indicator disposed at the housing of at least a second faulted circuit indicator a portion of the transmission line on which the fault condition has occurred; disconnecting the transmission line from a first feeder line; determining the state of the transmission line from the display disposed at the housing of the first faulted circuit indicator, wherein the state of the transmission line comprises at least one of a current, a voltage, a temperature, or a vibration present on the transmission line; and repairing the transmission line if the display disposed at the housing of the first faulted circuit indicator indicates that the state of the transmission line is such that it is safe to do so.