SPECIAL FEATURE
CIRCUIT PROTECTION & SWITCHGEAR
ELUCIAN — THE BEST PROTECTION With Amendment 2 of the 18th Edition Wiring Regulations due for publication in March 2022, Darren Staniforth, Head of Technical Engagement with Scolmore Group, looks at some of the key potential changes affecting circuit protection and how the company has future-proofed its newly launched Elucian consumer unit range to satisfy the anticipated changes.
T
he rationale for Amendment 2 is similar to that behind the original 18th Edition. Given the way our industry operates, the roles electrical contractors serve, and the increasing speed of technological change, the regulations must reflect these changes to ensure installations are safe, efficient, useful, and able to meet evolving standards.
The key potential changes: Mandating of AFDDs on circuits with a rated current not exceeding 32A
become mandated on a number of final circuits. Other countries mandated the use of AFDDs, in line with Harmonised Documents, many years before JPEL/64 (the committee responsible for the development of BS 7671) decided to take another look at the requirement for them to be installed. This was mainly down to different methods of construction on building sites, along with the belief that our electrical systems are more robust in the UK. AFDDs offer protection against a single series fault within one single conductor. Many of the other devices mentioned in this article require a fault to interact with another conductor, or to Earth via a known or unknown path. These are commonly known as parallel faults. AFDDs monitor
a number of characteristics within the final circuit at the same time, using a microprocessor. It’s true to say that most of the electrical items we use on a day-to-day basis have arcs within them when switching occurs. The signatures of many electrical devices and appliances have been added to the electronic chip. This allows the device to differentiate between a normally occurring arc and one that could lead to a potential fire hazard. The device is constantly monitoring the final circuit in question, and therefore needs an ultra-low amount of energy to do its job. Scolmore continues to invest in the Elucian consumer unit range to make sure installers can meet the requirements of the proposed regulation updates, and a range of AFDDs is in development.
by Click®
Consumer Units Elucian by Click® brings to the market a comprehensive Consumer Unit and Circuit Protection range. It covers a broad range of installations and offers a number of features and benefits that will enhance the products’ convenience, flexibility and safety properties.
July strip ads - Elucian.indd 26 ECN | July 2021
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Circuit Protection & Switchgear – Scolmore.indd 26
electricalcontractingnews.com
Scolmore continues to invest in the Elucian consumer unit range
scolmore.com
Elucian consumer units
Arc Fault Detection Devices aren’t new! They have been mentioned in BS 7671 for a number of years. The current version of the Wiring Regulations suggests that they are recommended for a small number of installations. Scolmore believes the 2nd Amendment to the 18th Edition of the Wiring Regulations will see them
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16/06/2021 11:48:12 /electricalcontractingnews
23/06/2021 16:39
