Surge Protection - 18th Edition

01-06-2020

Transient Overvoltage Protection

18th Edition: Bulletin

The 18th Edition of the Wiring Regulations came into effect on the 1st January 2019. Several key changes have been made with regards to surge protection that may affect installers such as yourself. Here we highlight a few of those key changes.

What Are Electrical Surges?

Electrical surges are also known as transient overvoltages and can affect power, signal and telecommunications systems by overloading components, leading to failure. Surges arise from lightning or from the switching of large electrical loads connected elsewhere on the network. Lightning strikes are the source of the largest overvoltages, whether direct or up to a kilometre away from the structure. In electrical installations, lightning surges can reach 6,000V and last less than a millisecond. While switching transients are much smaller, they are more frequent and can be a source of constant stress for electronic components, leading to tripping of RCDs, unplanned outages and premature failure. The result of either type of surge is the “four Ds” of disruption, degradation, damage and downtime. Ultimately, the cost to business from these is lost productivity, staff overtime, product spoilage and delays.

Read more