This thread has been locked.

If you have a related question, please click the "Ask a related question" button in the top right corner. The newly created question will be automatically linked to this question.

Using RD-195 Arc Detection on Low Voltage DC application

I am trying to recognize/detect a parallel arc in a low voltage 25 Volt DC application.  The arc's are anticipated to occur when a small motor (2 amps) and/or a larger motor (20-90 amps) are being used.  It is possible that the arcs may occur when the motors are idle also. The use of these motors is frequent but not constant throughout the day and will stay on for a few seconds to a few minutes and on rare occasions, a few hours.  Obviously, the arc's are going to be disguised by the inevitable electrical noise generated by the motors.  Setting the parameters of the RD-195 could be a bit tricky.

Has anyone been successful in determine an arc in this condition? 

  • Hello Gary,

    The RD-195 was evaluated at voltages below the UL1699B requirements and was able to detect arcing at ~50V; below that our setup was not able to reliably generate arcs. In your application, are you seeing sustained arcing with 25V or short duration arcing (less than 10ms)? The RD-195 is intended for sustained arcing of 1s or longer.

    As for the electrical noise interference, if the motors and any other noise sources raise the noise floor across the range of 25kHz to 95kHz, the RD-195 detection capability will be affected.

    Regards,

    ChrisO
  • Thanks for the information.  It appears to be correct.