Electrical faults explained: types, causes, calculations, and protection | Eaton PSEC

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Learn about electrical faults and the various design aspects used to protect electrical power systems. Electrical faults occur when electricity deviates from its intended path and cause outages, equipment damage, safety issues, and fires. Watch as Leslie McDonough, Eaton Power Systems Experience Center Engineering Intern, explains various types of electrical faults (short circuit faults, ground faults, and arcing faults), how they behave and their impact on power distribution systems. For electrical engineers, Leslie explains fault current calculations with a step-by-step guide to calculating fault current in different scenarios. Fault current calculations are a critical step in determining proper circuit protection devices and protect personnel from arc flash hazards. With fault current calculations completed, the next step is properly sized electrical circuit protection devices, such as breakers and fuses, to reliably open to prevent an overcurrent scenario. Electrical circuit protection is the purposeful use of a fail-safe device that automatically causes a disruption in an electrical circuit when it recognizes an excess and unsafe load of power in a circuit. Leslie also explains time-current curves (TCC) and their role in overcurrent protection. A time current curve is a graph used to show how quickly a protective device will interrupt at a given fault current level. We explain the causes of ground faults, which include poor insulation and moisture, and how ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) can detect and mitigate ground faults. Also, the hazards that arcing faults can create and how they can be contained with the use of arc fault breakers and receptacles. Thank you for watching one of our many educational videos on the topic of power systems. Schedule a visit to one of Eaton's Power Systems Experience Centers in either Pittsburgh or Houston to learn more! To learn more about Eaton products and our Power Systems Experience Centers: https://eaton.com/experience To view more educational videos from Eaton's Power Systems Experience Centers: https://videos.eaton.com/experience Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:16 Electrical faults explained 02:44 Calculating fault current 04:22 Circuit protection devices 04:58 Time current curve explained 05:40 Overcurrent protection devices 06:30 Ground faults explained 07:49 Arcing faults explained #electricalfaults #electricalsafety #electricaltroubleshooting #powersystem #engineering #eatonexperience #experiencecenter #electricalengineering #electricaltrainingvideos #powersystemdesign