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The document outlines safety requirements for residual current devices (RCDs) to protect against electric shock and fire hazards, referencing relevant IEC/HD standards. It specifies the use of 30 mA RCDs for general outlets and mobile devices, and discusses conditions for automatic disconnection in TN and TT networks. Additionally, it highlights the necessity of RCDs with sensitivities up to 300 mA in areas with increased fire risk and provides examples of applications requiring different sensitivity levels.

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3 views1 page

1_29

The document outlines safety requirements for residual current devices (RCDs) to protect against electric shock and fire hazards, referencing relevant IEC/HD standards. It specifies the use of 30 mA RCDs for general outlets and mobile devices, and discusses conditions for automatic disconnection in TN and TT networks. Additionally, it highlights the necessity of RCDs with sensitivities up to 300 mA in areas with increased fire risk and provides examples of applications requiring different sensitivity levels.

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tubolyt
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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xSpider, User’s manual

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Requirements for safety provided by residual current devices

It is necessary to verify that:


 If the residual current device is installed in order to ensure protection against electric shock, the maximum
total tripping time of each device meets the protection requirements, as defined by the IEC/HD 60364-4-41;
 If the residual current device is installed in order to ensure fire protection, that it meets the requirements of
the relevant standards (IEC/HD 60364-4-42, etc.).

A residual current device with a sensitivity of 30 mA used for additional protection must be used:
 for outlets, with a rated current not exceeding 32 A, which are used by inexpert personnel (people
without electrical qualifications) and are intended for general use (with the exception of outlets used under
supervision or surveillance of skilled or instructed personnel and special outlets intended for connection of a
special type of equipment, such as e.g. outlets for office equipment and computer technology or sockets to
supply power to devices - e.g. refrigerators, unwanted switch-off of which could cause significant damage),
 for mobile devices designed for outdoor use with a rated current not exceeding 32 A.

If the residual current device serves to provide protection against failure by automatic disconnection (TN, TT or IT),
it is not usually necessary to check whether automatic disconnection occurs in a sufficiently short time
corresponding to table 41.1 IEC/HD 60364-4-41.

With regards to automatic disconnection in a TN network, it is sufficient if any RCD fulfils the condition that the fault
current Ip is more than five times the rated tripping current of the residual current device - ie. Ip  5 × I△n, which is an
easily achievable condition (if we recall that Ip = Uo/Zs). The situation is similar in the case of an IT network, which
incorporates a protective ground conductor installed together with the phase conductor. General technical
standards (this is primarily the IEC/HD 60364-4-41 and other standards in the IEC/HD 60364 file) do not prescribe
that automatic disconnection at fault in the TN must be ensured by a residual current device. So far, there is
nothing to prevent this automatic disconnection being ensured by components protecting against overcurrent - only
when the use of these components (circuit-breakers and possibly fuses) does not ensure compliance with the
above condition Ip = Uo/Zs. Other times, the RCD also serves as an element for protecting against fire caused by
electric shock, and then it trips earlier, at fault currents lower than overcurrent protection.

In the TT network, automatic fault disconnection requires that the residual current devices are used in virtually all
cases. Details are given in the chapter 3.7.

In areas with increased fire risk, the standard prescribes the use of a residual current device with a sensitivity of up
to 300 mA. This requirement stems from the fact that when electric current passes outside the working current
circuit, its passage is undesirable and may cause a fire hazard. The places through which it passes, are subject to
electrical arcing due to leakage currents from broken insulation. Intermittent high temperature arcing is capable of
causing ignition of nearby combustible materials. The value of undesirably released energy is considered to be 60
W. This is the energy released by the flow of a current of 260 mA through a combustible environment at a voltage
of 230 V. Upon occurrence of this leakage, current already commonly trips the affected circuit breakers with current
I△n = 300 mA. Hence the requirement for the use of residual current device with I△n  300 mA.

This applies for example to:


 end circuits in TN and TT networks supplying power to areas with a risk of fire of processed or stored
materials (according to IEC/HD 60364-4-42) – requiring a residual current device with s I△n = 300 mA,
 for socket circuits with a rated current of 32 A at construction sites and demolition sites, a RCD with
I△n = 500 mA (according to IEC/HD 60364-7-704).

In some cases, the value required for protection against fire risk and is reduced to I△n  100 mA or even 30 mA.
This applies to overhead heating with thin heating layers according to IEC/HD 60364-4-42.

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