Power contact fault clearing device

An electrical circuit, comprising:

• a contact with a pair of switchable electrodes, the contact configured to cycle through make and break transitions while conducting current;
• an arc suppressor operatively coupled across the pair of switchable electrodes and configured to extinguish an arc formed across the pair of switchable electrodes during the make and break transitions of the contact;
• a voltage sensor coupled to the pair of switchable electrodes, the voltage sensor configured to generate voltage sensor data of voltage across the pair of switchable electrodes;
• a controller circuit operatively coupled to the voltage sensor, the arc suppressor, and the pair of switchable electrodes, the controller circuit comprising a plurality of registers and configured to detect a fault condition associated with the contact based on the voltage sensor data, and sequence contact opening of the contact with contact opening of at least a second contact based on the detected fault condition and a timing value associated with the fault condition and stored in at least one register of the plurality of registers wherein when the fault condition is based on a presence of a fault arc between the pair of switchable electrodes, the at least one register comprises a fault arc parameter register storing at least one parameter associated with the fault arc.

A method, comprising:

• coupling a contact with a pair of switchable electrodes of a contact sequencer circuit, the contact configured to cycle through a make state and a break state while conducting current;
• coupling an arc suppressor across the pair of switchable electrodes;
• coupling at least one sensor coupled to the pair of switchable electrodes, the at least one sensor configured to generate sensor data;
• coupling a controller circuit to the arc suppressor and the at least one sensor, the controller circuit configured to detect a fault condition based on the sensor data;
• and
• sequencing contact opening of the contact based on the detected fault condition and a timing value associated with the fault condition and stored in at least one register of a plurality of registers of the controller circuit, wherein when the fault condition is based on a presence of a fault arc between the pair of switchable electrodes, the at least one register comprises a fault arc parameter register storing at least one parameter associated with the fault arc.