Fundamental Study on Detection of Damaged Wiring Appliances for Fire Prevention

Damaged power-supply cords of household appliances and tracking of attachment plugs can cause fire outbreaks. Thus, safety devices for detecting such damages in wiring appliances are required to prevent fire incidents. In this study, we developed a simple technique for preventing fire outbreaks originating from the short-circuiting of damaged power-supply cords and the tracking of attachment plugs. In our experiments, we induced short-circuit in a power cord and tracking in an attachment plug and studied the frequency spectra of the conducted emissions. We observed an increase in the conducted emission levels in a certain frequency range in both experiments, which may be attributed to electrical discharge. Thus, the conducted emission level can be used to detect damage in supply cords and tracking in electrical attachment plugs, thereby preventing fire outbreaks.