Method for testing an arc fault detector

摘要

A method for testing an electrical fault detection device is provided. The device having a microprocessor and analog processing circuitry, the analog processing circuitry configured to detect a high-frequency component of a sinusoidal electrical power signal, identify a broadband portion of the high frequency component, and generate digital signals indicative of at least one characteristic of the broadband portion, the microprocessor configured to store a fault count value representing a propensity of the high-frequency component to be an arc fault, adjust the fault count value based on the at least one characteristic of the broadband portion, and generate a trip signal if the fault count value exceeds a fault count threshold. The method comprises providing a test command signal to an RF noise generator, the RF noise generator configured to generate, in response to the test command signal, a high-frequency broadband noise signal and deliver the high-frequency broadband noise signal to an input of the analog processing circuitry. The method further comprises monitoring, by the microprocessor, the high-frequency broadband noise signal to determine whether the digital signals generated by the analog processing circuitry are consistent with the high-frequency broadband noise signal; and generating a test failure trip signal if the digital signals generated by the analog processing circuitry are not consistent with the high-frequency broadband noise signal.