Surge Protection

[amo]

hi all.

went to see a client recently who said he's been having problems with power surges from the incoming supply and its damaging the final circuit equipment.

this is the setup as far as i could see. Each bedsit has its own 6 way DB aswel.



my question is how would you go about surge protecting the installation as a whole from the mains onwards. ive had a browse around the internet and its all abit confusing.

if someone could point me in the right direction on how to go about it and what needs to be changed that would be great

cheers fellas

 

[MDJ]

Ignoring your drawing as I have had a few already even though it's only half five LMAO, okay seriously, you can buy a surge protection device which sits in an enclosure fed from a breaker off the main DB for a hundred or so and it will do the job if any surges should occur, now this will deal with surges throughout the whole system if fed from the main DB, they come on all sorts of breaker sizes, don't be surprised if a 63 amp is the size provided with the surge kit.

 

[Outspoken]

amo, try this ABB LINK

Short of installing a UPS system big enough to support the supply this is the best solution, it's simple too as the kit would simply fit in it's own enclosure (in your installation) between the incomer and the Ryefield board...simples

 

[Clive P]

Hi,

When I was at Elex ( Exeter ) came across a company called Dehn who specialise in Lightning and Surge protection , may be worth giving them a ring. 01484859111.

Regards.

 

[amo]

Thanks for the replies guys. These power surges are due to the fluctuations in the incoming supply. Haven't had any of these problems before as this is on the outskirts of central london(e1).
I think ups is out of the questions as the budget is small. I think thee ABB ones worth looking into and will also contact elex.
thanks again

 

[GMES]

Amo FURSE surge protectors are a decent unit, i have fitted loads of 3 phase ones in the factories and never had any issues.
They are not the cheapest but are good quality, and they do single phase versions also.

 

[amo]

Will look into it also, thanks very much

 

[Outspoken]

Amo, if you are having surges on the incoming supply I would suggest you speak to your supplier or the operator of the local network, especially as your only on the edge of Londinium.

We have supply quality monitoring in place here and this shows up sags, swells and spikes, but even out in the sticks they are not common, perhaps once a month, but the kit never sees them because they last milliseconds and are only an issue for computer or sensitive systems. If you are experiencing fluctuations in the supply that you are noticing without monitoring equipment then something is wrong, either in the installation that is causing surges/spikes or other transient features, or something locally that is impacting the local supply. Normal local area spikes are often caused by small factories with large inductive loads on the local LV network, work going on in the area on the network or someone interfering with the local LV network, as in illegally cutting into it to avoid bills..

 

[amo]

thanks for the info Outspoken. the install in question has been working perfectly for the last 8 years with never having any problems. it has only happened twice that has actually damaged the equipment on the distribution side. i assured the client that these are very rare if it was indeed a supply issue but he still insists on having the protection in place just in case as these 2 issues have cost him £600 odd to replace all the damaged microwaves, tv's and smokealarms. small price to pay just in case this ever happens again.
According to the dno it was a spike in the system local works that were going on at the time on the adjacent roads.

 

[Outspoken]

Amo, in that case i would suggest you look at the tried tested industry norm..

A Furse unit

You can but them via many wholesalers, RS and even Farnell.

 

[itstony]

Gents,
Searching for information on surge protection and this old post has "Furse" has been recommended.
Located the item I would want ESP 240 D1.
It states if connecting to a TT supply to contact Furse.
I have submitted this, but do not expect a response soon.
It would appear this will be regarding grounding, but thought it would be good to encourage any comments from experience.

 

[Pete999]

Amo FURSE surge protectors are a decent unit, i have fitted loads of 3 phase ones in the factories and never had any issues.
They are not the cheapest but are good quality, and they do single phase versions also.

What GMES said

 

[itstony]

Thanks for the reply.
I am aware the Furse is a decent product, l looking for any feedback on the installing in a TT supply.

 

[GMES]

@itstony
A quick search on google brought this up.

 

[GMES]

Just in case the link doesn't work.