Grounding Accessories and circuit protection

This provides protection from dangers caused by electrical currents, such as over current, earth leakage current, short circuit, lightning, etc. to the wiring system, electrical equipment or consumer. The circuit below shows the isolation and protection devices which must be installed in a domestic electrical wiring system.

GROUNDING ACCESSORIES

The whole of the world may be considered as a vast conductor which is at reference (zero) potential. In the UK we refer to this as 'earth' whilst in the USA it is called 'ground Earthing Earthing is a connection system between the metallic parts of an electrical wiring system and the general mass of the earth. This will provide an easy path with a low impedance or resistance to earth to enable the protection system to operate effectively. It will thus ensure safety to human beings/consumers from the dangers of electric shocks if earth leakage currents are present. In general, an electrical installation is earthed because of: -

i. ii. iii. iv. v.

Safety reasons. Protection system requirements. Need to limit over voltages. Need to provide a path for electrical discharge. Legal requirements.

7.2

Classification of Earthing

Generally, earthing can be divided into 2 parts, namely: -

i. a. b.

System Earthing To isolate the system under fault conditions; To limit the potential difference between conductors which are not

insulated in an area;

c.

To limit the occurrence of over voltages under various conditions.

ii.

Equipment Earthing

Equipment earthing is undertaken to protect human beings/consumers. If a live source comes into contact with the equipment body, electrical energy will flow to the earth, without flowing through the human being/ consumers body. This is because of the fact that the human body has a greater resistance compared with the resistance to earth.

7.3

Types and Functions of Earthing Accessories

Earthing accessories are as follows:

i.

Earthing Electrode

Copper jacketed steel core rods are used as electrodes for domestic wiring. ii. Equipotential Bonding

This is the conductor which is connected between the consumer earthing point and the exposed metallic part. The minimum cable size for this purpose is 10 mm2.

CIRCUIT PROTECTION

Circuit protectors come in two different forms and their job is to protect the electrical circuit from damage from electricity.

RCD

RCD

Residual-current device (RCD), or residual-current circuit breaker (RCCB), is an electrical wiring device that disconnects a circuit whenever it detects that the electric current is not balanced between the energized conductor and the return neutral conductor. Such an imbalance may indicate current leakage through the body of a person who is grounded and accidentally touching the energized part of the circuit. A lethal shock can result from these conditions. RCCBs are designed to disconnect quickly enough to prevent injury caused by such shocks. They are not intended to provide protection against overcurrent (overload) or short-circuit conditions. RCDs operate by measuring the current balance between two conductors using a differential current transformer, and opening the device's contacts if there is a balance fault (i.e. a difference in current between the phase conductor and the neutral conductor). More generally (single phase, three phase, etc.) RCDs operate by detecting a nonzero sum of currents, i.e. the current in the "hot" or "hots" plus that in the "neutral" must equal zero (within some small tolerance),

otherwise there is a leakage of current to somewhere else (to ground, or to another circuit, etc.). The National Electrical Code, which is the enforcable code in most of the United States, requires GFCI devices for personnel to interrupt the circuit if the leakage current exceeds a range of 4 to 6 milliamps of current (the exact trip setting can be chosen by the manufacturer of the device and is typically 5 milliamps) within 25 milliseconds. GFCI devices which protect equipment (not personnel) are allowed to trip as high as 30 milliamps of current.

RCDs are designed to prevent electrocution by detecting the leakage current, which can be far smaller (typically 5- 6 milliamperes) than the trigger currents needed to operate conventional circuit breakers, which are typically measured in amperes. RCDs are intended to operate within 25 milliseconds, before electric shock can drive the heart into ventricular fibrillation, the most common cause of death through electric shock.

FUSE Introduction of Fuse In electronics and electrical engineering, a fuse (from the French fuser, Italian fuso, "spindle"[1]) is a type of low resistance resistor that acts as a sacrificial device to provide overcurrent protection, of either the load or source circuit. Its essential component is a metal wire or strip that melts when too much current flows, which interrupts the circuit in which it is connected. Short circuit, overloading, mismatched loads or device failure are the prime reasons for excessive current. Fuses are located in the main service panel. Most service panels installed before 1965 rely on fuses to control and protect individual circuits.

Function of Fuse Fuse is device used to limit the maximum rate of current flow in a circuit. When the current in a circuit becomes excessive, it generates heat which melts the fuse element and opens the circuit. Fuses must be wired in series with a circuit.

Categories of Fuses Fuses are generally grouped into three broad categories plug, cartridge and blade type fuses. The average homeowner will generate need the 0 to 30A plug type and the 0 to 60A cartridge type. Occasionally a 70 to 600A blade type fuse may need to be replaced. This fuse will usually have a 100 or 200 ampere rating and will be found in the main disconnects of 100 to 200 ampere service. Types of Fuses Standard Plug Fuse melt when current through the fuse exceeds its rated value

Time Delay Fuse

provide protection for short circuit plus an added protection against heating

Type S Fuse

 characteristics same with Time Delay Fuse plus the added of being non-temperable.

Cartridge fuse

characteristics same with Plug Fuse

Blade Fuse

operate on the heating effect, usually used for much higher amperage rating Circuit Breaker Fuse the operating characteristics of circuit breaker, can be reset after an overload.