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Open
Circuit,
Short
Circuit and
Overload
fault

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March 04, 2019
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A
fault is an SHARE

unattractive

or unsatisfactory

feature, especially

in a piece of work

or in a person's

character.

An electrical fault,

however, can be as

a result of  - 

                  

                     Open

Circuit Fault

                  

          

 Overload Fault 

                  

                     Short

Circuit Fault

OPEN CIRCUIT FAULT

- 

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An open circuit

fault is aHow
type ofContactor Works
fault thatdoelect.blogspot.com
occurs as AddThis
a result of an

opening in a circuit.

It is a type of circuit

in which there is no

current flow which

can occur as a

result of wire

breakage. 

In the open circuit

condition, we say

that maximum

resistance is

present between

two contacts.

We can also have

cases of the partial

opening in the

circuit, which might

lead to contacts of
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a conducting

surface How
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contacting/touchin AddThis
g properly known

as Partial contact. 

The result is that

there will be some

voltage drop as a

result of this partial

contact which will

affect the output

terminal voltage.

The magnitude of

this voltage drop

depends on the

severity of the

partial contact.

For instance, the above diagram indicates

partial contact (which can be experienced

as a result of improper cable termination or

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bad contacts of a terminal block ) that result
×

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in 0.8V drop resulting 

in 19.2V output. doelect.blogspot.com AddThis

 OVERLOAD FAULT  

Overload faults are

as a result of a

device doing work

more than its rated

capacity. When this

happens, the

device/machine will

be drawing current

more than its rated

capacity which will

result to a higher

temperature in the

device/machine

and over time might

cause it to burn and

get damaged.

Example  - 

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- An electric motor that is designed to drive

a maximum load of 100kg at a full load

current (nameplate current) of say 5A but it's

now subjected to drive a load of say 200kg

(which means the motor will be drawing 10A

(more than its rated capacity). That means it

is doing more than its rated power. This can

be termed of the Motor being overloaded. 

“
This
10A
will
resul
t to
the
mot
or ×
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gene
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ratin
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g
mor
e
heati
ng
than
requi
re
(the
high
er
the
curr
ent
the
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high
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erdoelect.blogspot.com AddThis
the
tem
pera
ture)
ther
efor
e the
mot
or
will
be
getti
ng
hot
whic
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h is
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not a
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good
one
beca
use
it
will
redu
ce
its
perf
orm
ance
and
live
span
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and
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over
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 time
migh
t
burn
.  ”

- A wall socket that is rated 13A (which

means that the maximum current is capable

of delivering). If a load of greater amperage

like a 3500W heater is connected to the

socket such that 15.9A now flows from the

socket the load. This is will act as an

overload on the socket and will cause more

temperature rise on it which can melt the

socket.

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- A 13A wall socket that is connected to like

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6 appliances at a time such that each AddThis
appliance is rated as thus: 320W, 200W,

1200W, 420W, 98W, and 580W totaling a

power of 2,818W which result to a current of

12.81A will result to the socket been

overloaded

Overload Protection

Overload is also

a type of

overcurrent.
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Overload protection
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typically operates
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on an inverse time
curve where the

tripping time

becomes less as

the current

increases. 

Overload relays and

“slow blow” fuses

are commonly used

to protect against

overload

In other to protect our circuit against the risk

and problem of overload the following

device can be used

- Fuse

- Overload relay

- Solid state power switches etc

 SHORT CIRCUIT

FAULT  

A short circuit is a
Recommended
type of current that for you ×
result in How
over- Contactor Works
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current flowing in a AddThis
circuit. In a short-

circuited system

the resistance of

the circuit reduced

drastically giving

way for excessive

current to flow in

the circuit.

A short circuit is

usually disastrous

because of the

amount of current

flowing which

might damage

other components

parts of the system

and causes the

temperature of the

circuit to increase

which can also lead

to the formation of

electrical arc flash.

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Generally, as the current flow in circuit

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increases, the temperature increases as well

doelect.blogspot.com
(The higher the current the higher the
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temperature) because of this, if there is a

short (live and neutral coming in contact

together) there is usually a spark or arc.

 Causes of Short Circuit Fault  

1. Live and Neutral

conductor coming

in contact together

2. Positive and

Negative terminal

of a battery coming

in contact together

which can result in

an explosion.

3. If wire insulation

breakdown allowing

the conduct to

come in contact

physically

In mains circuits,

short circuits may

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occur between 

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- Two phases, (Live

to Live fault or L-L)

- Between a phase

and neutral (Live to

neutral or L-

N) which is the

most common type

or 

- Between a phase

and earth (ground)

(Live to Ground or

L-G). Such short

circuits are likely to

result in very high

current and

therefore quickly

trigger an

overcurrent

protection device

(e.g fuse or circuit

breaker). However,

it is possible for
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short circuits to
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arise between Contactor Works
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neutral and earth
conductors, and

between two

conductors of the

same phase. Such

short circuits can

be dangerous,

particularly as they

may not

immediately result

in a large current

and are therefore

less likely to be

detected. Possible

effects include

unexpected

energization of a

circuit presumed to

be isolated. To help

reduce the negative

effects of short

circuits, power

distribution
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transformers are
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deliberately Contactor Works
designeddoelect.blogspot.com
to have a AddThis
certain amount

of leakage

reactance. The

leakage reactance

(usually about 5 to

10% of the full load

impedance) helps

limit both the

magnitude and rate

of rising of the fault

current.

 Effect of Short-Circuit  

1. Arc Flash - Due

to excess

temperature rise

around the shorted

conductor which

can ionize the air

around the vicinity

thereby giving off

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light.

How
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is due to doelect.blogspot.com
short- AddThis
circuit causes

excessive heating

which may result in

fire or explosion.

Short circuit
leading to a fire

outbreak as a
result of melted
insulator

Sometimes short-

circuit takes the

form of an arc and

causes

considerable

damage to the

system.

2. Insulation

Breakdown - Due to
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the excessive
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temperature rise of
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the system when
this type of fault

occurs. It can result

in insulation

breakdown of the

live and neutral

conductor, an

electric motor

winding coil which

can burn off the

system.

3. Fire and

explosion

Short-Circuit

Protection

Due to the above

detrimental effects

of short-circuit

fault, it is advisable

to use a form of

protection should
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this fault arise in
How
the circuit.
Contactor Works
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The following are AddThis
the

device/component

that can help to

protect against

short-circuit fault: 

Circuit Breaker

1. Fuse

2. Circuit-breaker

3. GCFI (Ground

fault circuit

interrupter) for

earth fault

protection

The fuse or circuit

breaker will be

selected according

to the current in the

circuit.
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For example -  

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If a lamp that is

rated 80W is to be

connected to a

supply voltage of

220V. Such that the

amount of current

flow in it is 0.36A (I

= P/V). 

So, a fuse of 0.5A

can be selected so

that if there is a

short circuit fault

between live and

neutral conductor

causing excess

current of up to say

20A flowing the

fuse will trip/cut

and will help to

protect the circuit

against such an

heavy current which

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might cause

damageHow Contactor
to the lamp Works
doelect.blogspot.com
and the wire.
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NOTE: 

Some devices

provide both

overcurrent and

overload protection.

A Thermal-

Magnetic Circuit

Breaker has both

thermal (overload)

and magnetic

(overcurrent)

elements.

Also, the dual

element fuse has

both instantaneous

and inverse time

characteristics in

the same fuse

providing both

overcurrent and
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overload protection.

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 SHARE

Comments

Womens special
· 6 August 2020
at 01:46
Transformer
Fault Current
Calculator
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