Electrical Engineering
Our electrical engineers investigate the failures of a wide variety of electrical equipment used in recreational, household, commercial, industrial, healthcare and educational applications. This includes everything from household appliances to electric scooters, sump pumps & heat pumps to transformers, wind turbines and solar panels. Along with failure analysis, our engineers are often tasked with establishing the extent of damage and thus, the ability to repair the equipment so as to mitigate the costs associated with the failure and loss.
Arcon’s electrical engineers have cross-functional expertise as fire & explosion investigators focused primarily on situations where an electrical source may have caused the ignition. The complex nature of certain failures require the additional expertise of our mechanical and structural experts to fully investigate the cause of the failure. The ability to draw on expertise from multiple functional experts within the same organization is what sets Arcon apart from other firms.
Household & Recreational Products
Electrically powered products such as appliances, pumps, lighting, toys, scooters and portable heaters can cause fires and personal injuries as a result of improper operation, installation, design or maintenance. A proper investigation does not merely stop at the point where a device is identified as the origin or cause of the problem – we investigate to identify the reasons for that failure and the specific components involved. Over-loaded outlets, damaged plugs, extension cords used to power equipment and un-professional home renovations create situations where a failure is inevitable.
Power Generation & Distribution Equipment
When our world is adversely affected by the failure of a transformer, or a catastrophic electrical fault occurs in a critical piece of switchgear, a distribution bus, or underground cable, Arcon’s electrical engineers will investigate to determine the cause of the failure and assess all relevant aspects such as maintenance, design/ construction/installation, code compliance, and external conditions.
As new sources of power generation such as wind turbines and solar panels have become more prevalent, so have the frequency of failures. Arcon has developed its competency with these technologies since they first appeared on the Canadian landscape and continues to be a leader in forensic engineering investigations related to their use.
Building Services Systems
Our extensive HVAC experience ranges from the assessment of boilers, chillers and cooling tower installations for large public institutions and manufacturing plants to the investigation of domestic fans, furnaces, heat pumps air conditioners. Arcon’s experts are thoroughly familiar with the range of issues that can be involved with this equipment.
Industrial Machinery
Manufacturing facilities often include large motors, complex automated machinery and control systems. We investigate failures in a full range of industrial equipment commonly found in manufacturing plants. These investigations can also require a metallurgical/materials failure analysis and further mechanical assessment to arrive at a causation conclusion.
