To all of our fantastic customers who have reviewed our business on Angie’s List, thank you—because of your kind words, Kolb Electric has received the Angie’s List Super Service Award for 2013! This award goes out to the top 5 percent of service companies per industry, and we’re so pleased our customers think highly enough of us to have helped us win.

Since our founding in 1925, Kolb Electric has been dedicated to providing our customers with the most reliable electrical service they can find, services that come in on time and on budget every time. We have six local offices, five bucket trucks, and one of the largest fleets in the Mid-Atlantic Region we are able handle any size project.

Our services cover everything from new wiring to electrical maintenance to troubleshooting and more. No matter what your electrical needs are, we have the right solution, at the right price. Our electricians are fully licensed by state and local jurisdictions, assuring you that your electrical project will be installed to exact industry and code standards.

So, if you’re planning an electrical project, and you’re looking for a quality job without the outrageous prices, contact us today to arrange for a free quote.

Our MD, DC, and VA Electricians Are…

We want to give a special thanks to all of our customers who took the time to review our business on Angie’s List and helped us win the 2013 Super Service Award. We plan to uphold our commitment to excellence long into the future, so if you need electrical service in Washington, DC, Maryland, or Virginia, call the DC electricians at Kolb Electric today!

The term “arc flash” is used to describe low impedance connections in an electrical system, which allows movement of unwanted electric discharge through the air from one voltage phase to another, or to ground. This leads to a rapid rise in temperature and pressure in the air between electrical conductors, causing an explosion known as an arc blast.

Arc blasts and the resulting heat can lead to fires, pressure waves and flying shrapnel that result in serious damage to life and property. These explosions typically occur without any warning, destroy electrical equipment completely and lead to severe injury or death of personnel present within the boundary of the arc flash.

What Are the Main Causes of Arc Flash?

Arc flash occurs when several electrical conductors are placed close to each other, with significant fault currents flowing through them. In this situation, ionization of the air can take place as a result of various factors – such as differences in potential – which leads to a low resistance path and allows current to flow through the air gap between conductors.

Many people assume that low voltage equipment is safe from arc flash, but arc flash hazard levels may be higher at low voltages, due to the high fault currents. Most incidents that occur in low voltage systems are caused by human error, e.g. a tool slipping while a technician works on electrical equipment.

Arc flash can also be caused due to: