Be Safe; Ensure Your Power Switchgear and Controlgear Assemblies Conform
Be safe, ensure your power switchgear and controlgear assemblies conform to IEC 61439-2 by understanding what certification is required. All too often certification is supplied that simply is not compliant and it’s not realised until it’s too late!
When customers order power switchgear and controlgear assemblies (PSC) from A&T Enclosures, we ask them why they chose us, and nine times out of ten it will be design, quality and compliance with the reference standard IEC 61439-1 & 2.
As a business like any other, we attempt to keep ahead of the curve, advancing our design, quality and compliance capabilities to maintain a competitive edge. However, it would be remiss to assume that all businesses operate to this standard and we’re often told this by new customers. It’s worth getting to know what’s important, whether a company has tested to the levels that you’re expecting and are basing what they sell on a verified configuration.
What and why is testing performed?
If you were to purchase a new car you would expect a high standard of protection in the case of an emergency and the various tests prescribed under IEC 61439-2 offer assurance to the user that the assembly will function under fault conditions.
A ‘reference design’ assembly is constructed for test and this contains functional units such as moulded case circuit breakers from chosen manufacturers, interconnections and busbars all assembled to allow future arrangements to be verified to. The reference design is subjected to a series of tests by independent experts – to prove consistency between components and assembly to satisfy the requirements set out in IEC 61439-2. Once verified, the certification assures confidence in future PSC assemblies based on this design.
Why it’s important to your business
There are many reasons why ensuring an enclosure has been tested to the standards you’re expecting. You’ll want a quality product to match your level of investment – it needs to stand the test of time in service (corrosion resistance for metallic parts is also one of the tests performed) but also be reliable if called to react in fault conditions many years after installation.
Watch Our Short Circuit Withstand Test Here
For more information please email sales@at-enclosures.co.uk or call 01384 212316.