Described herein are embodiments of a remote disconnect switch assembly. In one embodiment, the remote disconnect switch assembly comprises: an actuator; a shuttle that is operably moved by the actuator; one or more disconnect switches that are opened or closed by movement of the shuttle; one or more sensors; a communication interface; and a processor, wherein the processor is operably connected with the actuator, the one or more sensors and the communication interface, and wherein the processor is configured to: communicate with one or more other computing devices over a network using the communication interface; receive signals from the one or more sensors; and cause the actuator to operate in accordance with the signals received from the one or more sensors or the communications with the one or more other computing devices.

A system for determining when an electrical contact or other component reaches a predetermined temperature. In operation, a trace material is dispersed into a surrounding environment (e.g., head space within a compartment above insulating oil), where the trace material is detected. A barrier may be ruptured or broken by temperature-induced gas pressure, or pierced by a spring-loaded member that is located within the same section that contains the trace material, and devices may be provided for moving the trace material through the foil barrier as the barrier is ruptured. The barrier may be opened solely by internal gas pressure. According to another embodiment, improved fail-safe operation may be achieved by providing a spring-loaded member and configuring the barrier to be ruptured by the pressure of the detectable gas material before the barrier is ruptured by the spring-loaded member.

A system for determining when an electrical contact or other component reaches a predetermined temperature. In operation, a trace material is dispersed into a surrounding environment (e.g., head space within a compartment above insulating oil), where the trace material is detected. A barrier may be ruptured or broken by temperature-induced gas pressure, or pierced by a spring-loaded member that is located within the same section that contains the trace material, and devices may be provided for moving the trace material through the foil barrier as the barrier is ruptured. The barrier may be opened solely by internal gas pressure. According to another embodiment, improved fail-safe operation may be achieved by providing a spring-loaded member and configuring the barrier to be ruptured by the pressure of the detectable gas material before the barrier is ruptured by the spring-loaded member.

A component monitoring system structured to monitor circuit breaker assembly component characteristics is provided. The component monitoring system includes a record assembly, a number of vibration sensor assemblies, a comparison assembly, and an output assembly. The record assembly includes selected nominal data for a selected circuit breaker component. The vibration sensor assembly is structured to measure a number of actual component characteristics for a substantial portion of the circuit breaker assembly and to transmit actual component characteristic output data. The comparison assembly is structured to receive an electronic signal from said record assembly and said sensor assemblies, to compare each sensor assembly actual component characteristic output data to said selected nominal data and to provide an indication signal as to whether said sensor assembly output data is acceptable when compared to the selected nominal data. The output assembly includes a communication assembly and an output device.

A relay system includes a relay device and a controller. The relay device includes a contact and a driving mechanism configured to switch the contact between an open mode and a closed mode. The controller is configured to control the relay device. The controller is configured to, when freezing occurs on the contact, to commence first application of electric current to the driving mechanism to generate a driving force acting in a direction in which the contact is not switched between the open mode and a closed mode.

Thermal and vibration smart monitoring of electrical distribution equipment. A plurality of sensors provides temperature and vibration data associated with busbars or busways of the electrical distribution equipment. A diagnostics processor processes the sensor data initially received from the sensors and load data, which is representative of an electrical load of the electrical distribution equipment, as inputs to a trained machine learning model to predict a response to the electrical load. The diagnostics processor processes the sensor data subsequently received from the sensors during operation of the electrical load and the load data to determine whether the sensor data subsequently received from the sensors significantly deviates from the predicted response to the electrical load, and to generate an electronic or visual notification based on the determination.