Parker & Sons, one of Arizona’s oldest, local HVAC, electrical, and plumbing service providers has been providing Phoenix residents with their premier and professional resources for just over forty years. While many homeowners and renters can understand and identity many of the basic premises of the services that Parker & Sons provides, there are some technical things that are generally overlooked and unheard of. One of these things is an arc fault.
There are many who recognize the term “arcing,” as it is generally associated with arc welding, or certain situations such as a tree falling on a nearby power line throughout a storm, which creates a current of discharge between surrounding power lines.
In effect, when an arc fault is created, it is created unintentionally in all circumstances. They are also extremely dangerous. First of all, seeing as an arc fault is created when there is a current flowing through an unplanned path, they can be unpredictable and destructive, with the ability to exceed even 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Not only does this affect the circuits themselves, but also the objects around the area. In many cases, materials such as wood, metals, and other things the arc fault touches or becomes close to create very serious and life threatening fires.
Luckily, there is something called an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) that minimizes the damage by trying to contain the arc. The arc fault circuit interrupter acts as a preventer to larger, potential fire emergencies. In this sense, the arc fault circuit interrupter is built to detect a number of various arcing electrical faults. They differ from many of the mechanical and technical parts of a breaker in that unlike the conventional circuit breaker, arc fault circuit interrupters are solely built for the purpose of detecting electrical arcs and stopping them before they become a serious problem in the home or anywhere else. While they do not prevent all arc faults from wreaking havoc, they have been proven to reduce the vast majority of potential problems caused by arc faults.
They are an integral part to every home in terms of the safety and security they provide, and everyone at Parker & Sons encourages homeowners and renters to learn about this technology.