A method of operating an auto-monitoring circuit of a circuit interrupting device. The method including monitoring one or more signals to determine an operating state of said circuit interrupting device; outputting a first signal having a first voltage level based on the operating state, wherein the first voltage level is greater than zero volts; and outputting, after outputting the first signal, a second signal having a second voltage level based on the operating state, wherein the second voltage level is greater than the first voltage level.

Example devices and methods for compensating for monitoring a surge protection device are provided. In some embodiments, a device is configured to couple to a surge protection device. The device comprises a processor that is capable of sending a DC current signal. A serial data interface is electrically connected to the processor and includes at least one shift register. The device also comprises a multiplexer coupled to the serial data interface. The serial data interface is operable to direct the DC current through the multiplexer. The device also comprises an analog to digital converter (optionally embedded within the processor) that is operable to output a digital signal corresponding to a voltage induced by the DC current signal. Returned DC signals represent surge protection device's health and a multitude of other surge module information.

A transient voltage suppressor (TVS) can include an input line, a return line, and a plurality of TVS diodes disposed in series between the input line and the return line. The TVS can include a switch assembly operatively connected to the plurality of TVS diodes and configured to bypass at least one of the plurality of TVS diodes to allow a remainder of the plurality of TVS diodes to be tested at a voltage that is lower than if the switch assembly were not employed.

The subject disclosure describes a structure and method that generates the average of two or more reference quantities (e.g., reference voltage potentials) and monitors the integrity of the voltage reference potentials. The subject technology produces a reference with improved accuracy and more accurate monitoring compared to traditional techniques. For example, the subject technology provides for a fault circuit that includes a monitoring circuit, and an averaging circuit configured to receive a plurality of reference signals and to produce an averaged reference signal based on the received plurality of reference signals. In some examples, the monitoring circuit is configured to receive the averaged reference signal from the averaging circuit, compare the averaged reference signal to each of the plurality of reference signals, and generate a fault signal when the averaged reference signal deviates from at least one of the plurality of reference signals by at least a threshold value.

A solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) with self-diagnostic, self-maintenance, and self-protection capabilities includes: a power semiconductor device; an air gap disconnect unit connected in series with the power semiconductor device; a sense and drive circuit that switches the power semiconductor device OFF upon detecting a short circuit or overload of unacceptably long duration; and a microcontroller unit (MCU) that triggers the air gap disconnect unit to form an air gap and galvanically isolate an attached load, after the sense and drive circuit switches the power semiconductor device OFF. The MCU is further configured to monitor the operability of the air gap disconnect unit, the power semiconductor device, and other critical components of the SSCB and, when applicable, take corrective actions to prevent the SSCB and the connected load from being damaged or destroyed and/or to protect persons and the environment from being exposed to hazardous electrical conditions.

This disclosure relates to monitoring operational parameters of a distribution transformer and an associated surge arrester, and methods of retrofitting the distribution transformer with a transformer parameter monitoring (TPM) system. The TPM system can include a plurality of sensors. A subset of the plurality of sensors can be configured to monitor one or more physical properties of a distribution transformer, and another subset of the plurality of sensors can be configured to monitor a surge arrester associated with the distribution transformer. The TPM system can further include a controller that can be configured to receive captured sensor data from the plurality of sensors, and a communications interface that can be configured to communicate the captured sensor data to a remote system for evaluation thereof to determine one or more operational parameters of the distribution transformer and an amount of deterioration of the surge arrester.

The present disclosure provides a test system and method for a charging device. The test system for the charging device includes a load module, a test board and the charging device. A path is formed between the charging device and the load module through the test board. The test board is configured to report a test battery voltage to the charging device. The charging device is configured to receive the test battery voltage, to calculate a path impedance from the charging device to the load module according to the test battery voltage, to adjust an operating state of the charging device according to the calculated path impedance, and to determine whether the charging device needs to enter a protection state, for testing a path impedance protection function of the charging device.

A self-check system and a method thereof are disclosed. In the self-check system, a memory stores a safety check program, a main application program and a predetermined checksum data. The safety check program include a circuit check program, a watchdog circuit reset program and a checksum check program. When a chip system is powered on, a processing unit executes the main application program, and then executes an interrupt call to generate an interrupt, so as to execute the safety check program and the circuit check program to check a to-be-checked circuit. The processing unit also executes the watchdog circuit reset program to reset a counting value of a watchdog circuit. The processing unit also executes the checksum check program to calculate a checksum data of the first safety check program, and reset the chip system when the calculated checksum data is not equal to the predetermined checksum data.

An apparatus and method for diagnosing a watchdog timer is provided. The watchdog timer is used to detect and recover from a malfunction of a battery management system. Before entering a shutdown mode in response to a shutdown command from an external device, the apparatus outputs an invalid trigger signal to the watchdog timer and diagnoses a malfunction of the watchdog timer depending on whether the watchdog timer outputs a reset signal.

Provided is an arc protection system in which an arc remover does not operate in a case of a phase-to-phase short circuit fault or a ground/earth fault among arc faults in a distribution panel, the arc protection system including a sensor configured to sense an arc fault of a distribution panel, an arc removing unit configured to ground a fault current, and a control unit connected to the sensor and configured to measure a short circuit current value of the distribution panel, wherein when the arc fault is sensed and the short circuit current value corresponds to a three-phase short circuit current, the control unit drives the arc removing unit, and when the short circuit current value is smaller than the three-phase short circuit current, the control unit does not drive the arc removing unit.