An arcing event destroys the equipment that recorded it. The remaining evidence is distributed across relays, meters, breaker mechanisms, and the geometry of the damage itself.
01
Reconstruct the sequence before assigning cause
Sequence of events records, relay targets, waveform captures, and upstream utility data usually exist in different systems with different clocks. Aligning them is the first analytical task, and it frequently changes the working theory.
The location of the greatest damage is not necessarily the origin of the fault.
02
Protection performance is part of the causation question
Whether the protection scheme cleared the fault as designed determines the extent of damage and often the allocation of responsibility. Coordination studies, settings files, and as found configuration must be compared, not assumed to match.
03
Damage patterns as physical evidence
Copper deposition, insulation tracking, mechanical distortion, and thermal gradients establish direction and duration. Combined with the electrical record they support a defensible origin determination.
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