Toronto Electricians and Electrical Contractors

The first post in this series explained why following IEC 61439 ensures quality switchboards, panels and assemblies. In short, adhering to the standard means that everything in an assembly works as it should now and will continue to do so for years to come. This will be true despite aging components and such environmental factors as heat, humidity and pollution. This is particularly important because failures and problems in switchboards and assemblies can have serious consequences. For instance, electrical faults cause more than half of India’s industrial disasters . Worldwide, 80 percent of assemblies do not comply with IEC 61439. Previous posts in this series have shown how the standard applies to the testing of protection devices, creepage and clearance distances, insulating materials, and withstand voltage. I’ve also gone over the impact of thermal stability and reliability. This post, the last in the series , will look at the role played by and impact of electrical conductivi...

In a previous post in this blog series , I described how electrical fires can be caused by installations that have deteriorated over time, or from hazards due to electrical systems that have not been installed, upgraded, or maintained properly. The specific source of a fire can come from an electric arc, leakage current, overload, etc. For each of these causes, there is a solution. Today, I’ll talk about preventing fire and injury due to arc flashes and arc faults. Protecting against arc flashes As mentioned in my other post, an electric arc is a very rapid release of energy in the form of heat and pressure. This can cause severe thermal ignition with explosions and splashes of molten metal. Damage usually has serious potential consequences, causing not only downtime and production losses but also injury to personnel. In the United States, an explosion involving an electric arc occurs on average 5 to 6 times a day. Burn centers treat more than 2000 people a year for arc-related inju...