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 dry contact with a first pair of switchable electrodes to a wet contact with a second pair of switchable electrodes, the dry contact configured to cycle through a make state and a break state without conducting current, and the wet contact configured to cycle through the make state and the break state while conducting current;
• coupling an arc suppressor to the wet contact, the arc suppressor configured to extinguish an arc formed across the second pair of switchable electrodes during the make state and the break state of the wet contact;
• detecting a failure of the wet contact;
• determining based on the failure, a stick duration associated with the first pair of switchable electrodes, the stick duration based on a duration between an instance when a coil of the dry contact is deactivated and an instance of separation of the first pair of switchable electrodes during deactivation of the coil;
• and
• generating, in-situ and in real-time, health assessment for the first pair of switchable electrodes based on a comparison of the determined stick duration with an average stick duration associated with a window of observation.

An electrical circuit, comprising:

• a first contact with a first pair of switchable electrodes;
• a second contact with a second pair of switchable electrodes, the second contact operatively coupled to the first contact;
• an arc suppressor operatively coupled to at least one of the first contact and the second contact, and configured to extinguish an arc formed across at least one of the first pair and the second pair of switchable electrodes during a make state and a break state of the first and second contacts;
• and
• a controller circuit operatively coupled to the arc suppressor and the first and second pairs of switchable electrodes, the controller circuit configured to:
• detect one of the first contact or the second contact is a failed contact and a remaining one is a non-failed contact;
• determine a stick duration associated with the non-failed contact, the stick duration based on a duration between an instance when a coil of the non-failed contact is deactivated and an instance of separation of corresponding switchable electrodes of the non-failed contact during deactivation of the coil;
• and
• generate, in-situ and in real-time, health assessment for the switchable electrodes of the non-failed contact based on a comparison of the determined stick duration with an average stick duration associated with a window of observation.