EDSA Paladin DesignBase software has been recommended to me to use for our arcflash study. Does anyone have experience with this software? Would you recommend it?

Thanks.

I used it once about 7 years ago at the request of a client. It was pretty cumbersome to use back then and had several bugs. I imagine there have been improvements since then. Perhaps someone on the forum has a more recent experience. btw I use EasyPower - seems to be a pretty good package and I have not had any problems with it.

EDSA Program

I was recently trained on using this program. I can tell you that it is still cumbersome but to an acceptable level and it still has some bugs that I have been trying to fix with technical support (which are slow to respond to your needs). I have not used the other competitors software yet.
On the positive note, it can really simplify your work once you have become an expert (which will take time).

I use Etap 6.0 and recently got a free upgrade to 7.0. There is a learning curve but it's pretty easy to learn and allows for allot of user flexablity and customizing. Especially the hard copy report section. Their customer support is very good and staffed by EE's. I looked at SKM Power Tools but didn't like the restrictive features and it's almost a $1000 more than Etap for the same number of buses.

I use EasyPower. Their tech support has been great and update often.

Sparky87,
I've been using EDSA for 9 years. I've also been using SKM for the past 3 years and have some experience using Easy Power. EDSA will certainly get the job done. I would say there is little difference between EDSA and SKM in data entry. I've modeled the same network in both softwares and came up with the exact same numbers for arc flash. Both programs have the occasional bug, howerver SKM is much quicker to respond to them. I also see SKM putting more resources into their software to develop it and advance it.
If you have any other questions I would be happy to answer them for you.

Every program has it's limitation and features. There are progams out there that range from $75 to $4000+. It depends how detailed you want to get. For that matter... you could put together an Excel spread sheet using the IEEE 1584 formulas and plug in your point of interest short circuit data and upstream PD clearing times.

I used and use EDSA software for 15 years. I use Easy power too for 3 years.
Each software has there good and bad.
Edsa has hard time the panel and MCC schedule to enter - import from excel.
Easy power has has the problem to print the tables ckt# to print on the arc flash labels.
Stopa.

Edsa

I used and use EDSA software for 15 years. I use Easy power too for 3 years.
Each software has there good and bad.
Edsa has hard time the panel and MCC schedule to enter - import from excel.
Easy power has has the problem to print the tables ckt# to print on the arc flash labels.
Stopa.

Edsa Software

Hello:

I have been using EDSA since 1983 and have had few problems with the software. My employer uses the EEPlant version of the software. I have use it successfully for load flow, short circuit, coordination, arcflash and emtp studies.

No complaints from me.

I have used EASYPOWER and ETAP also. They are great programs also.

EDSA and EasyPower

Hello,

I've used EDSA and EasyPower.

My experience with EDSA was so frustrating that I switched to EasyPower in the middle of a study and have used it ever since. It seemed like the bugs were easier to find and harder to resolve in EDSA. I was on a first name basis with their support engineer. EDSA did provide better documentation of intermediate calculations. This was helpful for resolving questions about unexpected results. Their customer support was responsive.

EasyPower is easier to use. The case scenarios are a nice feature once you work around the bugs. Their technical customer support is good. I like the helpful documents they provide for tips on doing your study and on labeling.