Lightning Protection

[mattran]

Hi, we are about to build our own server and one of the questions that came up was the risk of lightning strikes whether it be direct on the building or via the power into the building.
Is this something you guys have considered and if so what steps have you taken to protect your servers?

[Cigano]

surge protectors 

[TempestCatto]

What you seek may just be a lightning arrester for a commercial building. Here's just one company that does this: https://www.tlpinc.com/services/industrial-commercial-systems.html

[wanderingfool2]

2 hours ago, Cigano said:

surge protectors 

There needs to be the caveat that it should not be cheap surge protectors (too many times have I seen people using cheap ones) and don't overload it (again so many people overload it)

 

To @mattran it will all depend on how much protection (and what level of protection) you need and the risk of strikes occurring.  An example being surge protectors, aside from plugging it directly into the wall, they probably provide the least protection (okay...well depending on what type of surge protector you buy...but that is why I don't like using the term surge protector as most people will think of the $20 cheaper protector).  if this route is taken, then look at the numbers in terms of what size of spikes it can prevent (a direct strike to the power grid near your building will cause jumps in many surge protectors)

 

The solution I usually go with is with UPS (with a true sine wave generator...as I've come across a few pieces of equipment that don't work with simulated waves).  The prices vary, and different options comes with different levels of protection.   The important thing is that it can help keep the power more regular and gives you time to shut off the server (or have it automatically turn off)...it also does have some power surge protection (but be warned, many don't actually provide the same level of surge protection if you read the specs).

 

With UPS's most recommend plugging directly into the wall, but I have seen a few that were plugged directly into a surge arrest and operating fine (you risk switching to battery more often I think.  Anyways, and example being

https://www.apc.com/shop/ca/en/products/APC-Black-Rackmount-SurgeArrest-9-Outlet-120V/P-NET9RMBLK and https://www.apc.com/shop/ca/en/products/APC-Smart-UPS-3000VA-LCD-RM-2U-120V-with-Network-Card/P-SMT3000RM2UNC

Look at the surge that it can handle.  (The arrest is a lot better).

 

The other option is what @tempestcatto said.

 

Really though it is weighing the risks of not having it vs the cost.  If it is protecting half a million in equipment then think about spending more money...but if it protecting like $10k in equipment, consider doign things like UPS's (just my opinion, and everyones use case will differ and will depend on how the business is setup)

 

[Donut417]

10 hours ago, mattran said:

Hi, we are about to build our own server and one of the questions that came up was the risk of lightning strikes whether it be direct on the building or via the power into the building.
Is this something you guys have considered and if so what steps have you taken to protect your servers?

At minimum a Line Interactive UPS, though you might consider a full online UPS as well as its technically better. Line Interactive units smooth out power before it hits your electronics as well as has built in surge suppression. Online UPS just run everything off the battery and trickle charge the battery while your using them. So no rouge voltage gets to your equipment. Both help in case of a power outage. 

[Jarsky]

It's good to see people thinking about dirty power, as thats one of the big silent killers to electronics. 

 

Typically you will have a UPS and that will in most cases do the job. 

You can of course have surge protectors to protect your UPS/batteries even more.

If you're in a particularly lightning prone area or have a metal/tall structure then you should also have lightning protection (lightning rod) in the building; this also helps to neutralise static in general during high ionisation of storm clouds. 

[Donut417]

3 minutes ago, Jarsky said:

ou can of course have surge protectors to protect your UPS/batteries even more.

AHHHH. Not wise. UPS's have surge suppression built in. Your not suppose to hook multiple surge suppressors up in a chain. That can become a Fire hazard. Because you can easily overload something, then poof, you got a Fire. 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

4 hours ago, Donut417 said:

AHHHH. Not wise. UPS's have surge suppression built in. Your not suppose to hook multiple surge suppressors up in a chain. That can become a Fire hazard. Because you can easily overload something, then poof, you got a Fire. 

That restriction applies to power strips, not surge arrestors. The reason for it is it is too easy to overload a power strip when too many appliances get plugged in.

 

For example, you plug six appliances that draw 1A each into a power strip; that is a 6A load that most power strips can easily handle. Now you plug that power strip into another power strip that is plugged into a 15A wall circuit that has four 2A appliances plugged into it. That's 14A total on that second strip. If the power strip is rated for 15A, it will will theoretically be ok but not all power strips are rated that high, which will lead to overloading of the strip. It's also a violation of the NEC that prohibits daisy chainig power strips because most people won't know enough to avoid overloading a circuit.

 

There is another problem. Breakers are rated for continuous load at only 80% of the breaker's capacity. For a 15A breaker, that is only 12A. If enough appliances are on the circuit to cause it to draw more than 12A all the time (which can easily happen with daisy chained paower strips), the breaker will eventually fail.

 

If one is careful to avoid overloading of any one strip and the house circuit itself, one can get away with daisy chaining power strips even though it is a code violation (just don't get caught). This includes surge arrestors. In fact, when using a whole house arrestor, it's recommended that one uses arrestors at each appliance. The whole house arrestor will protect from most surges coming in from the utility's power line (direct hits on the line from lightning being one exception) but surges can be caused by appliances starting and stopping so additional surge protected is needed for any appliance susceptable to damage from surges (which, anymore now, means pretty much all appliances).

 

For more on this, got to https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/surge-protection. Drop down to the section called "The Best Defense" if you don't want to read the whole thing (though I recommend it). This basically recommends daisy chaining arrestors (the whole house arrestor is daisy chained to each individual arrestor).

 

I live in a mobile home. The service entrance pedestal for older mobile homes is rated for 240v 100A and is split into two 240v 50A circuits, each circuit being protected by a 50A which leads to a 50A outlet that is used to connect to the power cord leading to the AC or the house. One 50A circuit is just for the central AC unit and the other goes into the house itself (heat, hot water, and cooking is all natural gas operated). I have an RV type 240V 50A arrestor plugged into each of the two 50A circuits and the Ac and house gets plugged into the outlet on the arrestors; one protects the AC unit and the other acts as a whole house protector for the house itself.

 

I have surge arrestors and two UPS units scattered around the house to protect my electronics. One of those arrestors is a power strip type arrestor that protects my TV, printer, studio monitor speakers, and the sub woofer. The power cords for the studio monitors are too short to reach the arrestor/power strip so I plugged them into a Y adapter and plugged that into a custom made extension cord to the arrestor/power strip. Technically, that makes it a power strip. The total load on the arrestor/power strip doesn't even come close to its 15A rating and the 15A wall circuit itself was already very lightly loaded so no danger there.

 

I have a 20A dedicated circuit for the UPS protecting my computer. Since the nearest wall outlets are behind my desk and the night stand my computer and scanners set on (there is another scanner in a drawer), it's a pain (literally; I'm old and handicapped), I attached a 15A power strip (no surge protection) into the surge protection side of the UPS and fastened the outlet end to the side of the night stand where it is out of the way but still easy to get to. The two scanners also get their power from the UPS surge protection only side of the UPS. The computer and the monitors get plugged into the battery/surge protected side of the UPS.

 

The other UPS is in the bathroom where I have my computer and phone modems, the router, the base station for my cordless phones, and two dual TV tuners. Power for the two dual TV tuners, the computer modem and router, and power for the TV amplifier (integrated with the TV antenna) come from a power strip (no surge protection) which gets plugged into the surge protection only side of the UPS. The phone modem (it connects to the Verizion cellular network) and the cordless phone base station are all that gets connected to the battery side of the UPS.

 

Everything else in the house is adequately protected by the whole house arrestor.

[wanderingfool2]

7 hours ago, Jarsky said:

It's good to see people thinking about dirty power, as thats one of the big silent killers to electronics. 

 

Typically you will have a UPS and that will in most cases do the job. 

You can of course have surge protectors to protect your UPS/batteries even more.

If you're in a particularly lightning prone area or have a metal/tall structure then you should also have lightning protection (lightning rod) in the building; this also helps to neutralise static in general during high ionisation of storm clouds. 

Some UPS's can actually create more dirty power while on battery than some conventional power grids.  (I can't remember the exact source anymore, but there was a good graph using I think an oscilloscope of a true sine UPS vs an approximated sine UPS that showed the spikes/frequency...the fake sine was bad).

7 hours ago, Donut417 said:

AHHHH. Not wise. UPS's have surge suppression built in. Your not suppose to hook multiple surge suppressors up in a chain. That can become a Fire hazard. Because you can easily overload something, then poof, you got a Fire. 

Putting an arrestor before the UPS can be okay; you need to make sure though that it is the only thing plugged in (and that it is one that can handle the load properly).

 

To be honest, as much as UPS's advertise surge suppression, they actually have quite a smaller suppression than a good quality arrestor.

[Donut417]

8 hours ago, wanderingfool2 said:

Putting an arrestor before the UPS can be okay; you need to make sure though that it is the only thing plugged in (and that it is one that can handle the load properly).

The average person sees an open outlet they will just plug in. I’m not going to be the one that burns the house down. So if you want to catch your house on fire that’s your choice. I personally say why take the chance. 

8 hours ago, wanderingfool2 said:

true sine UPS vs an approximated sine UPS that showed the spikes/frequency...the fake sine was bad).

Which is why I have a true sine wave UPS. But keep in mind your PC is not meant to run for a long time on a UPS, only a minute or two and safely shut down. 

 

8 hours ago, wanderingfool2 said:

suppression, they actually have quite a smaller suppression than a good quality arrestor.

Line interactive units switch to battery during a surge. At least the last two I have owned have. So you really don’t have to worry about the stuff connected to the battery. The other stuff not connected to the battery is probably not as important. Or or you can pay the money for an online unit and never have bad power touch any of your equipment. 

 

On on top of that if lightning is such an issue. They make while home surge suppressor. It is added to the electrical panel, it helps with lighting and surges from utility power. 

 

I dont care what any surge suppressors say. You take a lightning hit, your stuff is probably fried. Most surge suppressors are for surges created in the home. Such as those created when the compressor of a window air conditioner kicks off. Plus your forgetting about the other wires coming in to the home. Coax and phone lines can carry power as well. Just because they are grounded doesn’t mean that lightning can’t enter the home via those wires. Ethernet can also carry electricity, so any modems and routers can pass bad power to your devices directly connected. 

[wanderingfool2]

35 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Which is why I have a true sine wave UPS. But keep in mind your PC is not meant to run for a long time on a UPS, only a minute or two and safely shut down.

Yea, it is just Jarsky mentioend using an UPS to protect against dirty power, but didn't mention a true sine wave (which is why I wanted to clarify that non-true sine waves could actually have more dirty power than the power grid).  Also, it isn't a PC we are talking about it is for a server...depending on what it's running it could be a good 5 - 15 minute shutdown process to preserve data (all depends)

 

43 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

The average person sees an open outlet they will just plug in. I’m not going to be the one that burns the house down. So if you want to catch your house on fire that’s your choice. I personally say why take the chance.

A server really should be a room where there isn't general traffic going through, and we are talking about a workplace environment where rules and signs can be put into place.

 

53 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Line interactive units switch to battery during a surge. At least the last two I have owned have. So you really don’t have to worry about the stuff connected to the battery. The other stuff not connected to the battery is probably not as important. Or or you can pay the money for an online unit and never have bad power touch any of your equipment.

Not everything is created equal though, there are still a considerable amount of line interactive units that have lower tolerances to surges.

 

It is why I said my recommended approach is usually using an UPS with true sine; with the caveat to look at the protection rating (as a good quality arrester can handle quite a bit more than an UPS).

1 hour ago, Donut417 said:

I dont care what any surge suppressors say. You take a lightning hit, your stuff is probably fried. Most surge suppressors are for surges created in the home. Such as those created when the compressor of a window air conditioner kicks off. Plus your forgetting about the other wires coming in to the home. Coax and phone lines can carry power as well. Just because they are grounded doesn’t mean that lightning can’t enter the home via those wires. Ethernet can also carry electricity, so any modems and routers can pass bad power to your devices directly connected. 

You are right, coax and phone lines can carry power; and it should be also a point of discussion as wel; but again it is just hooking it up to an arrester.  Like I originally said, it all boils down to cost, and the risk reward aspect.  An arrester is designed to create a short to ground essentially when the voltage becomes too high (like in a lightning strike), so while it does let some through it is a lot less than a surge suppressor will and if you had an UPS inplace after it, the UPS can absorb the rest (as from what I understand many are suppresors).  (As suppressors absorb the hit, but do not release the energy into the ground...they are a lot less effective against lightning strikes which carry too much energy).

Again it is all about cost vs risk.

[Donut417]

Seeing how UPS manufacturer APC suggests against it. I’d say I’d go with APC’s advice. It could also void the protection plan offered by them and maybe even the warranty. They even suggest plugging a UPS in to a surge suppressor could cause it to go to battery more often and make it less effective with dealing with rouge voltage. 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 hour ago, Donut417 said:

Seeing how UPS manufacturer APC suggests against it. I’d say I’d go with APC’s advice. It could also void the protection plan offered by them and maybe even the warranty. They even suggest plugging a UPS in to a surge suppressor could cause it to go to battery more often and make it less effective with dealing with rouge voltage. 

APC's warnings are mostly boiler plate to make it easier to weasel out of honoring a warranty claim.

[AbsoluteFool]

On 9/6/2019 at 2:56 AM, mattran said:

Hi, we are about to build our own server and one of the questions that came up was the risk of lightning strikes whether it be direct on the building or via the power into the building.
Is this something you guys have considered and if so what steps have you taken to protect your servers?

You can buy leaders that lead lighting to the ground instead of you're house or cables. If you are afraid for the wall sockets a surge protection or UPS with surge protection is the best. If you want to lead away lightning that hit's you're house the normal way is to lead it through a type of metal rod to a metal plate (commonly copper) that's buried under ground. 

[mattran]

Thank you all,

Many or these solutions have been considered @Donut417 has the right of it though, if power coming in takes a direct hit then stopping that kind of amperage is futile.

I think the Line Interactive UPS or full online UPS may be the go.
The two edit systems we have use these although they also get unplugged when not in use.
The server is also Air gaped from the rest of the network, only connected to the two edit pcs via fibre.

Mother nature can be a bitch

[leadeater]

On 9/8/2019 at 3:57 AM, Donut417 said:

Seeing how UPS manufacturer APC suggests against it. I’d say I’d go with APC’s advice. It could also void the protection plan offered by them and maybe even the warranty. They even suggest plugging a UPS in to a surge suppressor could cause it to go to battery more often and make it less effective with dealing with rouge voltage. 

Basically all wall plug/power strip surge suppressors are worthless, you know that anyway. There are proper suppression devices but these are on the industrial side and are completely fine to have before a UPS. Cheap suppressors and standby UPS are a bad idea, many line-interactive too. They cause switching to battery because they detect (falsely) a surge and cut/divert power then the UPS switch over triggers then you risk devices connected to that rebooting from a slow switch-over and switch back. This is a non issue on online double conversion UPSs because the inverter is always active and minor input porblems have no effect.

 

It's also a bad idea to use a UPS, especially an online one, as a lightning suppressor because they are reasonably expensive. These devices are what you are willing to sacrifice, assume they will be irreparable and not covered by warranty so full cost on you, so make sure what it's protecting is significantly more expensive. Have a better reason than lightning basically. 

[leadeater]

On 9/7/2019 at 3:20 PM, Lady Fitzgerald said:

There is another problem. Breakers are rated for continuous load at only 80% of the breaker's capacity. For a 15A breaker, that is only 12A. If enough appliances are on the circuit to cause it to draw more than 12A all the time (which can easily happen with daisy chained paower strips), the breaker will eventually fail.

Not really, the current rating for a Circuit Breaker is the rating for continuous load at the specified temperature. Because this is generally 25C and the type used in residential is Thermal-Magnetic they will trip at lower currents at higher temperatures. The most common cause for CBs to trip early is a hot power distribution board/cabinet. There is also a lot more variance in current loads in homes and it doesn't take much to trip a CB when running close to the rated capability.

 

There are also different tripping characteristics, type C you will most likely in counter in homes.

Quote

MCB TYPE	TRIPPING CURRENT
TRIP CURVE CLASS B	Above 3 to 5 times rated current. Suitable for cable protection
TRIP CURVE CLASS C	Above 5 to 10 times the rated current. Suitable Domestic and residential applications and electromagnetic starting loads with medium starting currents
TRIP CURVE CLASS D	Above 10(excluding 10) to 20 times the rated current. Suitable for inductive and motor loads with high starting currents.
TRIP CURVE CLASS K	Above 8 to 12 times the rated current. Suitable for inductive and motor loads with high inrush currents
TRIP CURVE CLASS Z	Above 2 to 3 times the rated current. These type of MCBs are highly sensitive to short circuit and are used for the protection of highly sensitive devices such as semiconductor devices.

 https://www.electricalclassroom.com/what-is-meant-by-b-c-d-k-and-z-curves-in-mcbs/

[Lady Fitzgerald]

5 hours ago, leadeater said:

Not really, the current rating for a Circuit Breaker is the rating for continuous load at the specified temperature. Because this is generally 25C and the type used in residential is Thermal-Magnetic they will trip at lower currents at higher temperatures. The most common cause for CBs to trip early is a hot power distribution board/cabinet. There is also a lot more variance in current loads in homes and it doesn't take much to trip a CB when running close to the rated capability.

 

There are also different tripping characteristics, type C you will most likely in counter in homes.

 https://www.electricalclassroom.com/what-is-meant-by-b-c-d-k-and-z-curves-in-mcbs/

You are confusing continuous load rating and tripping points. The US NEC defines the continuous load rating as 80% of the trip point of a breaker unless the breaker has been rated for 100% continuous load (rare in residential applications). Breakers that have been run at higher continuous current than they are rated for don't just trip, they permanently fail.

[leadeater]

4 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

You are confusing continuous load rating and tripping points. The US NEC defines the continuous load rating as 80% of the trip point of a breaker unless the breaker has been rated for 100% continuous load (rare in residential applications). Breakers that have been run at higher continuous current than they are rated for don't just trip, they permanently fail.

No I'm not, the type tells you the tripping characteristic and that includes the continuous load. If you don't know the type you can't actually know what it's rated at and how it trips, a MCB C20 is different than a MCB B20 and both have a 20A rating and both types you can find in a home, but that varies by country.

 

MCB have two triggers, thermal and magnetic. Thermal trigger is the curve part of the graph for simplicity sake, magnetic trigger is the last part, the MCB is also rated a maximum safe tripping current which relates to the magnetic part of this. A B type will in most countries run at 100% because their designed trigger point is 30C ambient (depends on manufacture/model etc) and since it's a thermal trigger operation below the ambient rating will increase the allowed current i.e. the bi-metal strip won't heat expand enough to trigger. Type C in many cases will too, many countries are not that hot not even in the distribution board.

 

MCBs are used to protect devices behind them and wiring, failure points of MCBs are not the nominal current load rating so a C20 running at 22A in 15C ambient isn't going to fail, no matter how long it runs like that. The Ics rating is the maximum current the MCB can take before it'll fail, 6kA is the type of MCB we use here for most things other than lights. Icn is what will make it fail, generally for MCBs in a home Icn and Ics are the same. Any current below Ics will allow the device to safely operate without any degradation of it. That is the purpose of the Ics rating.

 

I personally take no notice of US NEC standards as they both don't apply here and generally aren't that accurate to the actual capability and designed operation, we use EN/IEC.

 

Edit:

Note: I was wrong in my earlier post about the ambient rating being 25C.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 hour ago, leadeater said:

No I'm not, the type tells you the tripping characteristic and that includes the continuous load. If you don't know the type you can't actually know what it's rated at and how it trips, a MCB C20 is different than a MCB B20 and both have a 20A rating and both types you can find in a home, but that varies by country.

 

MCB have two triggers, thermal and magnetic. Thermal trigger is the curve part of the graph for simplicity sake, magnetic trigger is the last part, the MCB is also rated a maximum safe tripping current which relates to the magnetic part of this. A B type will in most countries run at 100% because their designed trigger point is 30C ambient (depends on manufacture/model etc) and since it's a thermal trigger operation below the ambient rating will increase the allowed current i.e. the bi-metal strip won't heat expand enough to trigger. Type C in many cases will too, many countries are not that hot not even in the distribution board.

 

MCBs are used to protect devices behind them and wiring, failure points of MCBs are not the nominal current load rating so a C20 running at 22A in 15C ambient isn't going to fail, no matter how long it runs like that. The Ics rating is the maximum current the MCB can take before it'll fail, 6kA is the type of MCB we use here for most things other than lights. Icn is what will make it fail, generally for MCBs in a home Icn and Ics are the same. Any current below Ics will allow the device to safely operate without any degradation of it. That is the purpose of the Ics rating.

 

I personally take no notice of US NEC standards as they both don't apply here and generally aren't that accurate to the actual capability and designed operation, we use EN/IEC.

 

Edit:

Note: I was wrong in my earlier post about the ambient rating being 25C.

You're still comparing apples to kumquats.

 

I specified US standards since I noticed you are from New Zealand and you posted as though everyone was under New Zealand standards.

[leadeater]

15 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

You're still comparing apples to kumquats.

 

I specified US standards since I noticed you are from New Zealand and you posted as though everyone was under New Zealand standards.

Eh? Manufacturers don't make them any different, they just make sure they comply with both standards so neither is wrong. A basic 80% rating is just not really correct as you'll find both C type and B type in many homes in many countries. 80% is fair saying for a C type at 30C ambient, but then if you live in a hotter climate it won't ring true and same if it's colder. A GE MCB G61C20 purchased and installed in the US is exactly the same as one purchased and installed in any other country.

 

I posted how they work not based on country, I referenced which particular models we use and climate etc but the type is the type no matter.

 

Edit:

EN/IEC is most other countries. Just have to note not all EN/IEC MCBs are allowed to be used in a NEMA region and vice versa. Reason for that is NEMA are 110V AC mains regions and require higher Icn, 20kA with a Ics of 75% of that.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 minute ago, leadeater said:

Eh? Manufacturers don't make them any different, they just make sure they comply with both standards so neither is wrong. A basic 80% rating is just not really correct as you'll find both C type and B type in many homes in many countries. 80% is fair saying for a C type at 30C ambient, but then if you live in a hotter climate it won't ring true and same if it's colder. A GE MCB G61C20 purchase and installed in the US is exactly the same as one purchase and installed in any other country.

 

I posted how they work not based on country. 

You are completely clueless on what is used on the U.S. I've never seen a breaker like the GE MCB G61C20, which is an industrial breaker, used on a residence.

 

Many of the newer breakers, such as the ones that are both AFCI and GFCI protected (required by code in new installations in many places in the US) may have 100% duty cycles but the majority of breakers in homes are still older types and code does not require updating. Go to you nearest home center to get a replacement breaker or a new one for a new circuit, most in stock will be the older styles in most places.

 

The mobile home court I live in has an old electrical system with old breakers for the branch circuits coming from the transformers. They are industrial style 80% duty cycle breakers that have no 100% duty cycle replacements. The electrical demands on the system has increased since the place was built back in the '70s due to newer mobile homes drawing far more power than they used to and the load averages more than 80% so the place frequently burns up breakers. The only solution is to replace the ancient transformers with a larger one, split the loads, and upgrade the load centers but our new slumlord is just as cheap as the old one was so I'm not holding my breath.

[leadeater]

1 hour ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Many of the newer breakers, such as the ones that are both AFCI and GFCI protected (required by code in new installations in many places in the US) may have 100% duty cycles but the majority of breakers in homes are still older types and code does not require updating.

Could you show me an example one? Just the model number will do, or picture, either or. Here we have groups of 40A RCDs that groups of MCBs connect to, we don't combine these functions in a single device. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

We also have older style but our electrical regulations require that if you touch anything the entire system must be brought up to the current code of the time so the majority of houses are up to current code other than heritage building etc.

 

Regardless how a thermal-magnetic MCB operates doesn't change, those types cover everything.  EN/IEC 60947-2 is NEMA complaint and that's what they actually get manufactured to edit: If manufactured outside US for mixed markets.

 

A Siemens QA120AFC isn't any different, the AFCI/GFCI is additional and offers a different protection with different trigger. Everything I said still applies to these. A QAF2 will be operational below 10kA.

 

https://www.downloads.siemens.com/download-center/Download.aspx?pos=download&fct=getasset&id1=BTLV_47399

 

Not going to say where but OP is not on the North American continent and is covered by EN/IEC standards.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

12 hours ago, leadeater said:

Could you show me an example one? Just the model number will do, or picture, either or. Here we have groups of 40A RCDs that groups of MCBs connect to, we don't combine these functions in a single device. 

 

  Hide contents

 

 

 

 

We also have older style but our electrical regulations require that if you touch anything the entire system must be brought up to the current code of the time so the majority of houses are up to current code other than heritage building etc.

 

Regardless how a thermal-magnetic MCB operates doesn't change, those types cover everything.  EN/IEC 60947-2 is NEMA complaint and that's what they actually get manufactured to edit: If manufactured outside US for mixed markets.

 

A Siemens QA120AFC isn't any different, the AFCI/GFCI is additional and offers a different protection with different trigger. Everything I said still applies to these. A QAF2 will be operational below 10kA.

 

https://www.downloads.siemens.com/download-center/Download.aspx?pos=download&fct=getasset&id1=BTLV_47399

 

Not going to say where but OP is not on the North American continent and is covered by EN/IEC standards.

Most of the AFCI (which also provide GFCI protection) breakers available here look much like the Siemens you pictured last. They are not available locally for most older panels. Besides not being available for my load center (my home was built back in '74), I don't have enough enough room for the pigtails on the neutral bar.

 

There is a newer style breaker designed to be used in a new kind of load center. The load center has a neutral bus that the breaker also plugs into when the breaker is plugged into the panel. The panel also has lugs for the hot leads instead of having to connect them directly to the breaker. Changing out a breaker is as simple as unplugging the old one and plugging in the new one. If your fingers are strong enough, the new breakers can be considered to be tool-less. I've yet to see these locally.

 

Codes vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction (each State, County, and City has their own codes but they generally follow or excede the NEC--National Electric Code) but, generally, only new circuits or circuits (the wiring itself) that are being modified or repaired (other than replacing outlets, switches, ceiling light fixtures, etc. and breakers) need to be brought up to code. Local codes may be more stringent and require an entire house be updated. Codes are a bit different for moble homes in that certain kinds of splices can be buried in a wall without direct access to them; most electricians don't trust them and neither do I).

 

I've never seen load centers like the ones you pictured here in the SSA.

 

Frequency here is 60Hz, not 50Hz like you use. Also, we use different residential voltages here (I believe you use 230v for everything). Wall sockets for smaller appliances are 120v and are either 15A or 20A. Larger appliances, like stoves, clothes driers, central air, etc. use 240v with 30A, 50A and 60A being the most common (20A is available as well as some higher current breakers). Larger 240v breakers, such 100A (pretty much outdated now) and 200A are used for mains on residences (my mobile home uses a 100A, 240v service but that is split into two 50A circuits; one of which goes directly to the house and the other goes directly to the AC; newer moble homes use 200A load centers that everything gets tied into).