Joe,

Thanks for posting this ad. As always, I appreciate and respect the perspective that you bring to the exchange of ideas.

With respect to this ad:
Quote
AFCIs detect and prevent electrical fires caused by harmful arcing conditions in their earliest stages.
So. . .the National Association of State Fire Marshalls is saying an AFCI is a FIRE DETECTOR!!!! [Linked Image] [Linked Image]

The question still remains. How does a (any) specific model of AFCI, for sale at the Parts Houses today, decide what is "normal" and what is a "fault"?

Eaton had a large booth at the Minneapolis Upper Midwest Electrical Manufacturer's Trade Show two weeks ago. Among other items of interest, were a couple flavors of AFCI, including a single pole unit with a transparent side. The integrated circuit chip at the heart of the unit is TINY. I want to believe in the AFCI, but I need to be educated about this thing's software. No one at the Eaton booth could explain the hard technology of the unit in anything more complex than glowing advertising jingo-ism.

The manufacturers MUST tell us the hard tech of how these machines work, otherwise, mis-information such as the above NASFM ad copy will dominate what should be an informed evolutionary process.

[This message has been edited by ElectricAL (edited 04-16-2004).]

Al Hildenbrand