Power Contact Health Assessor Apparatus and Method

A method for generating a health assessment for a pair of switchable electrodes, the method comprising:

• coupling a wet contact with the pair of switchable electrodes to an arc suppressor, the wet contact configured to cycle through make and break transitions while conducting current;
• coupling a contact separation detector within the arc suppressor across the pair of switchable electrodes, the arc suppressor configured to extinguish an arc formed across the pair of switchable electrodes during the make and break transition of the wet contact;
• indicating, by the contact separation detector, an instance of separation of the pair of switchable electrodes during deactivation of a coil of the wet contact;
• determining a stick duration associated with the pair of switchable electrodes, the stick duration based on a duration between an instance when the deactivation is triggered and the instance of separation;
• and
• generating, in-situ and in real-time, health assessment for the pair of switchable electrodes based on a comparison of the determined stick duration with a plurality of average stick durations associated with a corresponding plurality of windows of observation.

An electrical circuit, comprising:

• a wet contact with a pair of switchable electrodes, the wet contact configured to cycle through a make state and a break state while conducting current;
• a power switching circuit operatively coupled to the wet contact, the power switching circuit configured to switch power to a coil of the wet contact from an external power source and to trigger contact opening or contact closing of the wet contact based on a logic state signal;
• an arc suppressor operatively coupled to the wet contact and configured to extinguish an arc formed across the pair of switchable electrodes during the make state and the break state of the wet contact, the arc suppressor comprising a contact separation detector configured to indicate an instance of separation of the pair of switchable electrodes during deactivation of the coil of the wet contact;
• and
• a controller circuit operatively coupled to the arc suppressor and configured to:
• determine a stick duration associated with the pair of switchable electrodes, the stick duration based on a duration between an instance when the deactivation is triggered and the instance of separation;
• and
• generate, in-situ and in real-time, health assessment for the pair of switchable electrodes based on a comparison of the determined stick duration with a plurality of average stick durations associated with a corresponding plurality of windows of observation.