CaPS 

Catastrophic Protection System

 KEY IDEAS

♦ Beware – UL 1449 has changed !!!

♦ MOV’s & Temp Over Voltages !!!
♦ TVSS Inside the Switchgear ?
♦ Build a TOV resistant SPD 
♦ Catastrophic Protection Systems  

Damage Increases with TIME!

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 It’s About Time!

Destructive Energy
Voltage

Transients TOV Swells Overvoltage

Nano Micro Milli Seconds Minutes

3
 Surge Industry
Regulating Bodies
♦ UL 1449 – 2nd Edition
Defines safety criteria – Abnormal Overvoltages

♦ ANSI/IEEE 1100-2005
Identifies TOV & Overvoltages

♦ ANSI/IEEE C62.41-1991
Identifies transient surges

♦ NEMA LS 1
Defines product performance

4
 Transient Surge Compared
to Power Waveform

~100 µSec
One Cycle (16667 µSec)

0° 90° 180° 270° 360°

5
 Cloud-to-cloud lightning
electro-magnetically
couples with conductors
on the ground.
Lightning strikes the ground
directly. Ground potential rise
creates voltage differential in a Lightning strikes
radial direction from the strike. conductors directly.

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 SPD Shunt Surges
Away From Load

CLAMPING VOLTAGE

Source Load
CLAMPING VOLTAGE

SPD

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 It’s all about Ohm’s Law

Without SPD V = I X R

With SPD V=I X R

V = Voltage on the Line
I = Current on the Line
R = Impedance of the building

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 It’s About Time!

Destructive Energy
Voltage

Transients TOV Overvoltage Abnormal OV

Nano Micro Milli Seconds Minutes

9
 UL 1449 Changes
February 9, 2007

♦ Expanded OVERVOLTAGE Testing

(2 x nominal voltage)
♦ Added 7 hour intermediate fault current levels
– 10 amps
– 100 amps
– 500 amps
– 1000 amps
To the original 5 amp & 200kA test

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 What indicates a failure?

Units can not exhibit any of the following during testing

♦ Emissions of flame, molten metal, glowing or flaming
particles through any opening in the product.
♦ Charring, glowing, or flaming of the supporting surface,
tissue paper or cheesecloth.
♦ Ignition of the enclosure.
♦ Creation of any openings in the enclosure resulting in the
accessibility of live parts in Section 13.
♦ Loss of structural integrity to a degree that the equipment
collapses or experiences such displacement of parts that
there is a risk of short-circuiting or grounding of current
carrying parts.

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 What does this mean
to a customer?
♦ Manufacturers can not build product to the old standard
after February 8th 2007.
♦ Products produced before February 9th 2007 can
continue to be sold.
♦ There is no special markings for the newly certified
products.
♦ Have to check the date of manufacture on the product.
♦ Spec’s should state “must be manufactured after
February 9th 2007 to the latest UL 1449 directive”
♦ Ask for a copy of the product’s new listing from a NRTL
(UL, ETL, Metlabs, CSA,TUV etc)

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 It’s About Time!

Destructive Energy
Voltage

Transients TOV Swells Abnormal OV

Nano Micro Milli Seconds Minutes

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 IEEE Std 1100, 2005
Power Quality Disturbances

Power Quality Event Time Range Above Nominal

Voltage Range

Over Voltage > 1 min 1.1 – 1.2

Swell 8 ms – 1 min 1.1 – 1.8

Temporary Over 100 usec – 8 ms 1.8 – 2.0

Voltage (TOV)

Transient Surge 1nsec – 100 usec >1.2

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 TOV’s difficult to
prevent in a power
system, if not
impossible !!!!

…low MCOV selected by a wish to provide

surge protection with low limiting voltage
for loads perceived as needing such limiting
voltage, but at a greater risk of destruction under
TOV’s (Martzloff and Leedy 1989 [B219]

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 Reliability Chart for MOV’s
Surge Current Rating Curves-20 mm MOV
10000
1
2

10

1000 10 2

10 3
Surge Current

10 4

100 10 5
10 6

Indef.

10

1
10 100 1000 10000
20 microseconds 5000 microseconds
Impulse Duration
(Microseconds)

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Test 1 –
Apply
2 x Nominal
Voltage to
120 / 150V
MOV

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 MOV Test

♦ Voltage is applied in 30 cycle bursts.

♦ Capture current waveforms (Initially zero until the MOVs conduct.
♦ Voltage increased in 25 volt increments
♦ Eventually MOVs will destruct and voltage is noted.
Voltage
30 Cycle Probe
Burst
Current
Probe

Variable
Voltage
Source 4 MOV
Array
4 Channel
Oscilloscope

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 Voltage Exceeds MCOV
5.083 ms 5.083 ms 5.083 ms 5.083 ms
(5083µs) (5083µs) (5083µs) (5083µs)

MCOV

MCOV

16.67 ms 16.67 ms 16.67 ms 16.67 ms

Time Applied destroys MOV

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Now that know how a simple SPD
reacts to a TOV…

--- should we install it inside our

switch gear ??

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 NO WAY!!!
WHY…
♦ Makes a NASTY mess of your
switchgear
♦ Everything has to be cleaned or
replaced
♦ The Emerald Book tells us it is a
BAD IDEA
♦ May require extensive service shut-
down
♦ May require HOT repairs
♦ HOT repairs require compliance to
OSHA and NFPA 70E

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Integrated SPD is NOT Safe

♦ Integrated SPD NOT RECOMMENDED by

IEEE Emerald Book (IEEE Std 1100 – 2005
Section 8.4.2.5 )

Due to Switch Gear and Panel board

contamination
– Product failure can contaminate the
panel internally with ionized gases
– Carbon particles can cause a
secondary and more serious failure,
such as a Arc flashover

♦ Integrated Panels Must take an outage to

repair/replace or operator MUST suit up

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23
 Arc Flash and TVSS Safety

……. In the United States,

between five and ten times a
day, an arc flash explosion
occurs in electric equipment
and the event sends a victim to
a special burn center…..
…. Of these burn victims, at
least 1 will die as a result of the
injuries received !!!!
These statistics were compiled by CapSchell, Inc., a
research and consulting firm specializing in preventing
workplace injuries and deaths

ARC FLASH IS A REAL DANGER

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 Suit Up for Servicing
Integral SPD’s
Anytime a surge protection
module, test board, alarm
sensors or even a surge
counter battery has to be
replaced inside live equipment
of an integrated Transient
Voltage Surge Suppression
(TVSS) device, it puts your
people at risk unnecessarily.

Every time you go into the Gear – Danger!

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Question
How do you over come
TOV and Swell impact
on Service Entrance
SPD’s ???

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Answer
Combine SPD
Technologies for a
“BEST IN CLASS”
Solution!!!

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 Catastrophic Protectors Shunt
TOV, Swells and Transients
From Load

CLAMPING VOLTAGE

Source Load
CLAMPING VOLTAGE

CaP

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 Response Curves u m
leni
S e
V s
MO

Routine Extreme

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 HYBRID Testing

♦ Selenium cell connected in parallel with the MOVs.

♦ Start at the last voltage where the MOVs failed.
♦ A 30 cycle burst is applied.
♦ Current sharing occurs in favor of the Selenium.
♦ MOVs of not exposed to damaging heat.
♦ The voltage is increased.

Voltage
30 Cycle Probe
Burst
Current
Probes
Variable
Voltage
Source MOV
Selenium Array
4 Channel Oscilloscope

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31
 The Preferred
Service Entrance SPD
♦ Must survive against transient surges, TOV &
swell conditions.
♦ Must be able to not only save itself but also
downstream equipment.
♦ Strong enough design to be placed in many
different types of installations for an extended
service life.
♦ Provide a quality AC filter against EMI noise.
♦ Easy safe access for testing and servicing.

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It’s About Time!
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 Current Technologies
Select2 is a CaPS Protector
♦ It Survives Against Transient Surges, TOV & Swell
Conditions using Selenium Hybrid Technology.
♦ Versatile design is listed as both Surge Arrestor and Surge
Suppression device.
♦ Provides a quality AC filter.
♦ “Best in Class” Clamping Voltages.
♦ “Best in Class” Warranty (15 years).

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 Safe Access &
Serviceability
♦ External to the Service Entrance Switchgear
♦ Survives TOV & Swell events
♦ Can be isolated for safe servicing
♦ Not an Arc Flash potential hazard
♦ Routine performance checks in the field

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 Survive Transients &
TOV Swells
F !
O OP !
P O P
MCOV

MCOV

%$
PF
FT

#!
16.67 ms 16.67 ms 16.67 ms 16.67 ms

!
With apologies to Batman!

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 Save Itself &
Downstream Loads
200’ 50’

A = Pearson Current XFMR (301 X)

SL2-150 TG150 PC B = Pearson Current XFMR (101)
C = Pearson Current XFMR (1423)
SOURCE

Applied Voltage: 213V (1.78 pu swell)

Test Currents: 100A
Power Factor: ≤ .1%
SL2-150-120/208-3GY + TG150-120/208-3GY + Computer

Selenium unit is situated closely to the swell source, the MOV is 200’ away
Computer is 50 feet from MOV based SPD.

* Ask for white paper Test 4408-N to be sent to you on your survey page

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 Test Results with
TIME LINE
Test 4408-N: 9/30/2006, 120/208V System, 100A available current
Voltage = 1.8 x Nominal

♦ 0-8.11 sec: Selenium absorbing swell; computer

operating
♦ 60 sec: Milestone met for Swell conditions
♦ 102.51 sec:Selenium and MOV absorbing swell &
computer operating
♦ 102.52 sec: MOV unit fails, Selenium absorbing swell;
computer operating
♦ 197.27 sec:Selenium absorbing swell; computer
operating
♦ 197.28 sec: Selenium fails
♦ 197.28 sec: Computer fails Computer fails immediately
when Selenium fails

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 Closing

♦ Specify new UL1449 & manufacture date after

2/9/07 
♦ Know that MOV only based SPD will fail on the first
TOV event 
♦ TVSS inside switchgear – BAD IDEA 
♦ New class of service entrance SPD -Catastrophic
Protection Systems  
♦ Specify 200% voltage for 3600 cycles at service
entrance  
♦ Specify Field test capability in your SPD  

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