Disclosed is a connection circuit capable of detecting erroneous wiring of an interconnect device in order to prevent a safety fuse from being melted and quickly perform an overcurrent protection in the event of erroneous wiring or the like. In this connection circuit of the interconnect device, a preliminary wiring check operation is performed when a power control unit receives a power-on signal. It is detected whether or not a power line and a ground line are short-circuited in the preliminary wiring check operation. When the power line and the ground line are not short-circuited, an operation instruction is output from the power control unit to a power unit. As a result, power is turned on after it is checked whether or not the power line and the ground line are short-circuited in advance. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the safety fuse from being melted.

Disclosed are advances in the arts with novel methods and apparatus for detecting faulty connections in an electrical system. Exemplary preferred embodiments include monitoring techniques and systems for monitoring signals at one or more device loads and analyzing the monitored signals for determining fault conditions at the device loads and/or at the main transmission lines. The invention preferably provides the capability to test and monitor electrical interconnections without fully activating the host system.

A ground fault protection system includes a power switch including a source-side and a load-side. The power switch is structured to receive a load current from a power source at the source-side and selectively output the load current from the load-side to a load. A first voltage measuring device is structured to measure a first voltage of the source-side while the power switch is not conducting the load current. A second voltage measuring device is structured to measure a second voltage of the load-side while the power switch is not conducting the load current. A controller is structured to determine a source-side-to-ground voltage based on the first voltage, determine a load-side-to-ground voltage based on the second voltage, determine a ground fault is occurring, and determine a direction of the ground fault relative to the power switch.

Examples herein relate to an apparatus. In some examples, an apparatus may include a circuit to direct a power signal to at least one electrical component. The circuit may include a protection device to regulate power to the electrical component, detection circuitry to detect when the protection device has failed, and an alert handling logic to receive a signal from the detection circuitry that the protection device has failed.

A power converting device converts any of DC voltages outputted from at least two DC power supplies and outputs a converted voltage. A control unit of the power converting device determines whether a first contact and a second contact of a switch are melted and joined together based on a detection signal, before a second DC power supply outputs a second DC voltage.

Disclosed are advances in the arts with novel methods and apparatus for detecting faulty connections in an electrical system. Exemplary preferred embodiments include monitoring techniques and systems for monitoring signals at one or more device loads and analyzing the monitored signals for determining fault conditions at the device loads and/or at the main transmission lines. The invention preferably provides the capability to test and monitor electrical interconnections without fully activating the host system.

A motor drive includes a condition detection circuit for monitoring the condition of the drive, an determination circuit for determining whether detected data indicates an abnormality, a memory unit for storing a detection value including at least one of a peak voltage applied to the drive, a peak current flowing through the drive, the cumulative number of occurrences of abnormalities, and variations in the peak voltage or current with time, when the abnormality occurs, and a setting unit for setting in advance set values including an allowable peak voltage and current and the allowable number of occurrences of abnormalities, and allowable variations in the peak voltage and current with time allowable by the drive. Whenever the motor drive is powered on, it is determined whether the detection value reaches the set value. When the detection value reaches the set value, the power-on of the motor drive is prohibited.

A safety apparatus uses a fuel cell and a high voltage battery as a power source, and includes: a first voltage sensor that measures a voltage of a positive side of a voltage bus; a second voltage sensor that measures a voltage of a negative side of the voltage bus; and a controller that determines an electrical insulation between the positive side of the voltage bus and the electrical chassis based on the voltage of the positive side of the voltage bus and determines an electrical insulation between the negative side of the voltage bus and the electrical chassis based on the voltage of the negative side of the voltage bus.

An anti-short-circuit detection apparatus includes a probe, a detection resistor, a switching circuit, and a detection circuit. The probe is disposed between a power port and a ground port. A first terminal of the detection resistor is electrically coupled to a power circuit of the user terminal, and a second terminal of the detection resistor is electrically coupled to the probe. The switching circuit is electrically coupled to the first terminal of the detection resistor and a processor of the user terminal and is configured to perform switching to be grounded or ungrounded under the control of the processor. The detection circuit is electrically coupled to two terminals of the detection resistor and the processor, and is configured to trigger the processor to control the user terminal to issue a short-circuit warning or turn off the power circuit when the short-circuit current is not zero.

A circuit breaker includes a control circuit capable of generating and transmitting a test pulse through its attached circuit and any connected load while its contacts are open, with the breaker in the OFF, or TRIPPED, state, to determine if detrimental anomalies exist, such as a short circuit. In certain configurations, the control circuit can measure and store a circuit's parameters for a properly operating load when the breaker is in the OFF state, and subsequently with the breaker in the OFF, or TRIPPED, state, compare the stored parameters to determine if an alarm condition exists and thereby initiate appropriate alerts and actions. In an alternate configuration, the breaker can be commanded to the OFF position by the load sending a signal through the power connection, with the breaker then being able to store the load's reason for shut-down and report such information to a remote location.