the electrical panel, what material it should contain, whether it is single-phase or three-phase, how each material is (in appearance) and what it does. If a material is correct, if we must have it installed on our board and more.Πίνακας - τι υλικό πρέπει να βάλω; τι κάνει το καθένα; Τι ''αξεσουάρ'' βάζω;
Reblog https://electricalnews.gr/texnika-arthra/isxyra-reymata/pinakes/item/827-pinakas-hlektrologikos
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In this article, you can hear and read things that for many are self-evident, but there are many, which for many people are unknown! So the… experts will "endure"!
We will read about components that protect us and our devices from disaster.
We will not talk about "smart" solutions and gadgets in general (of which there are infinite to empty your pockets without meaning). You will only hear about consumer and device safety components only.
I will not go into details that do NOT concern the consumer, such as pipe cross-sections, fuse strength, these mean that the one who does the installation, has done them as provided.
But let's start with the heart of our electrical installation which is the panel.
What is an electrical panel?
As I mentioned before, it is the heart of our electrical installation. There, our supply ends, which starts from the meter of HEDNO (PPC) whether it is single-phase or three-phase. Also, all the lines of our electrical installation end there, whether they are sockets (sockets) or lighting fixtures, kitchens, washing machines, water heaters, toasters, fryers and many other lines that we can have in our installation.
Some people (who do not know basic things about electricity) will tell me why we should go into the process of putting a cart of components, since everything ends up in a !! box !! Let's make them a bunch, let's branch them all together, let's close the facade with a big lid so that nothing is visible so the whole house will work and we will not have this annoying box with the dozens (in many cases) bulbs, to see it once all day !!
And I answer that, yes, this could be done and the whole installation would work…. very normally !! But this is neither right nor logical and most importantly, it is NOT safe for any common mortal or other living organism that we have in our home and moves within it! So the "experts" thought (I go back at least 100 years now) since we have different devices, each with a different power requirement, we can not be satisfied with the fuses of HEDNO (PPC), because fires would be more frequent a lot, so we will make "little things" which every time a device exceeds its limits on power requirement, these little things, break the circuit!
What a simple and saving thought, imagine having a water heater and working with a… .table lamp !! The cable would catch fire within a few seconds and there would be no way to interrupt this line !!
So we automatically have a fire!
Besides, a painting made with passion and by a "crazy" electrician, can make even the most gadget-maker want to see him all day
So in the panel we must have installed various components that are used for various things. For example, from fires, electric shocks, short circuits, overloads, overvoltages and many other interests and necessities that we will see below παρακάτω
It goes without saying that in order to have an electrically safe installation, it must be done by a licensed Electrician who has sat at the desks, passed examinations of the ministry and sat for a few years next to another electrician, so he learned the obvious and based on everything. these, to make your house.
Read in the following link, in more detail about the Electrical panel: Electrical panel
So what do we do after we have gathered all our cables in this box called the electrical panel?
We start and separate our lines, depending on their cross sections and write on a piece of paper how many fuses we will buy! The better in a facility, the more lines, the better. We will have plenty of electricity everywhere, without interruptions, and without fear…. Should I put a broom and air conditioner together? Should I turn on the water heater and close the washing machine so that the general safety does not fall? Put a toaster, kettle, coffee maker and think about what else, on my kitchen counter? Or will the whole apartment building fall? How many times have we not heard these words from housewives who want all these devices at once?
All this is solved when we have a strong supply from HEDNO and our electrical installation is properly designed. So strong supply, many lines (cables) in our installation and properly distributed loads.
Which table to choose?
Airy… .evilio… ..clear… .. to be well ventilated …… I am joking ... in places !! And yet, it is like our Computer, the smaller the box and the sadder it is, the more its components heat up resulting in their faster destruction! So? We choose a large, spacious board, with distances between the rows of fuses satisfactory and having a sufficient depth. In general, the more spacious a panel is, the less pressure there will be on the cables and components, which in many cases overheat a lot! As in electronics, so in electrical, high temperatures are their Death!
Also, do not take these tin paintings anymore, which are completely black and rust with a little moisture in the room. There are now from all companies, plastic panels very super in design but also in spaces etc
Once we have thought about all the above and have started thinking about what we will do inside our electrical panel, the requirements are really many!
In the following link you can see how we change a painting in a house or store. What is the procedure and the steps in detail: Replacement of an old electrical panel
What are the basics that an electrical panel should contain?
In a house panel we start with the main switch. He accordingly said with the supply has the corresponding power. Eg in single phase we switch 40 General A. General safety 32 or 35 A . The main switch cuts off the power from our entire installation. The only point we have current closing it is one of its screws on one side (either the top or the bottom)
Why put a main switch?
Because whatever happens, it is the component that as soon as we download it will stop all our installation (if we are at home! If we are not, below you will see what means there are so that no matter what happens, the installation will stop automatically !!
Why have general security?
The general fuse is mainly used to "collect" the total currents that we consume at home and when they tend to exceed the limits of our supply (eg if we have a single phase 1X40A at the HEDNO meter, the general fuse will be 35 A MAX.) To drop it, or burn if it is a cartridge type. In this way, we control our consumptions, but we also avoid the fact that the security of HEDNO's watch is constantly falling, at which time we will be up and down to raise and lower the security of the watch!
Between the above two materials, we can have placed indicator lights (bulbs). With the lights, we see what works and what does not. We can, for example, want to see when the fuse of the HEDNO meter burned out! Then, we will put (after the main switch) a light bulb. This, as soon as the safety of the HEDNO meter burns out, it will go out, together with our whole house! However, we will know (before calling an electrician) that the meter fuse has blown, so we will be a little "read"
If our panel is of new technology, the general safety will be of automatic type, so there is NO need for a light, because when it falls…. it seems to have fallen !!
If it is with a screw cartridge, then it is necessary to place a lamp (indicator light) there as well, so if the cartridge burns, we understand that this is the fault. Unless of course the general light is still on.
Leakage relay
After the general safety, the leakage relay is installed! What is a leakage relay? What is he doing; What relay should I put?
Details about the leakage relay can be read at the following links…
But since I started the analysis here, I have to tell you in two words what it is and what it does. The leakage relay detects leaks throughout our electrical installation or appliances. If something breaks and the current flows abundantly to the metal parts of our house, the relay will understand it immediately (no electron can fool it beyond what is allowed!) So the leakage relay is the ONLY component in our panel, which in case of electric shock we will NOT die. We will hear it for a while (slightly though) but we will not die of electric shock!
So having a relay, we will listen to Anita again the next day, we will not miss an episode.
The leakage relay is installed after our general safety. Why then? (Some will ask) This is a more specific question and the answer is mainly for professionals. We install it afterwards, because only in this way, in the future we can place a second relay on the panel, or a third or many relays or the whole panel will be filled with a leakage relay. A second reason is that it must be secured by regulations. And the insurance that will insure it, is the General! This is also going….
After the leakage relay we will install the individual loads of our house. Water heater, kitchen, air conditioners, lighting, sockets and much more.
Switch (or Rail Switch) bipolar!
In heavy appliances in terms of power consumption eg water heater and kitchen (regardless of whether both I mentioned, are probably the heaviest and in kilos in our house) in which we operate from the electrical panel, we must operate them from a switch and not from safety and even bipolar, to interrupt the neutral conductor.
Too many times I have gone to houses or shops and see on the board the water heater switch, raised and the fuse down. So I ask the owner: '' Why do you have the switch up and the fuse down? '' And he answers me, because I was told to turn it on by the fuse !! ERROR. The operation must be done by the switch, which has high resistance to sparks (ARC, we will see later in the article what is Arc). So we necessarily buy circuit breakers for handling devices with high current demand.
How do we distinguish the Switch from the safety in our panel?
The switch in most cases is double in width from the safety. In the new facilities it is the same in width and now last and a half of the security !! BUT… .. the main sign, from which the switch stands out from the safety is… .. the board should be WRITTEN !! That is, under each component must be written what each one is. This is taken care of by the Electrician and since he has prepared a PSO for the installation, he is obliged to write in detail what each component is. BC: in this case: Water heater switch….
Auto insurance…
What are auto insurance? Why should I? For obvious reasons, every circuit must be secured. And what we mean is insured ότι .. that if current exceeds the strength of a cable, then to avoid overheating of pipes, even worse fires, the fuse to fall and protect the circuit (cable - line) from damage.
The safety, in addition to the cable, also protects the devices that we have placed in it, either connected directly, or in a box inside or outside our wall. If for some reason, a component of a device is damaged (short circuit) then the fuse will break the circuit and the device will not be completely destroyed. It may be repairable, depending on the device.
Where do we find insurance? On all lines - devices. From coffee maker to air conditioner…. Until the table lamp… ..up ALL! Everything must be insured. Do not look that half of us are uninsured due to the crisis! We have seen what happens to people who are uninsured and need care, so our devices, if we leave them "uninsured" σαμε we lost them, then more current will pass than allowed and… .cry Charalambos!
Everything we have written so far concerns the largest household share of boards in the country. It's just that some boards may differ in size due to more lines or requirements of each consumer.
After so far we have covered leaks, electric shocks, overheating, etc., we said (above, at the point of the main switch) what happens in case we are away from home and something happens.
So let's move on to more specific components that one can have on one's electrical panel and why?
Why are the most special components produced?
However, not to eat our money and empty our pockets (when we know what we are shopping) so the best thing is information. Of course, if we keep everything I write to you here, we want a shitload of money to be completely quiet.
It's something like a car. Should I just get a car that takes me to work? Because everything will work out for us. Or to throw money, so that a concrete mixer can pass over it, to go out and just dust the… lapel?
For what I write, the consumer should read them, ask and then, depending on his abilities, shop what is most useful to him. In any case, the airbag is now standard on all cars, it is mandatory. So the leakage relay, which is to save our lives from electric shocks, I have put it above the standards !! It is mandatory to place it by law.
What can happen in our home when we are away?
(The concrete mixer may not pass over us every day, but science and technology have taken care of this case as well, so… ..)
Too many! Electrical are very insidious things, satanic (as some Fathers claim). The slightest error in an installation, inside our walls (boxes - pipes, etc.) acts undisturbed and unnoticed! From a bad branch that sparks slowly… .years… .. from poor tightening of socket screws or device connections, from poor contact of the current with copper in general, fires can occur, which in many cases are irreparable !!
So technology has "discovered" an accessory which in fact in Europe and America, is placed in many installations. This is what is called: Error Arc Detector (AFDD)
(I'm giving you a job for the weekend now… I know, but take the trouble and read them. I think they are quite useful).
What does AFDD do? Is it worth it? Is it difficult to install? Does it take a long time?
AFDD detects any malfunctions that have occurred on your "sneaky" wall, or on your socket or panel, or on a socket or device in general. Detects bad clamps everywhere within its surveillance, or fault insulation errors resulting in an arc and fire !!
Read in the following links in detail what AFDD is and do not miss to watch the video, it is quite interesting ...
It is placed inside the table and is an "accessory" that is worth its careless placement !! Imagine being away from home and having an ARC during that time. It can be done by closing the door or in a week or a month η ..or never, do not dramatize everything (it is something like the concrete mixer).
The only disadvantage of AFD I consider is its purchase price. It is a fairly expensive component which if we calculate that it must be placed on each line, then the more lines we have we must multiply it by the price of each AFD to calculate the total cost! If we have, say, 10 circuits and we want AFD at all 10, then the cost of the purchase alone amounts to approximately 150 euros per piece !!! So we are talking about a device with a very high cost.
Well, we got the job of an AFDD and what ARC is.
Voltage monitor
The most important component in my opinion, after the leakage relay, is the voltage and loss neutral monitor. An accessory that must be made mandatory by law, because it is the only device that literally saves lives in case of interruption of the neutral network of HEDNO. Below you can read an article, what can happen when we have a neutral cut in the network ... and especially from the side of HEDNO!
Another very useful tool, for many spastic, because when we have phenomena that will need to work and at that moment we see Menegaki, we want to break both the surveillance and the television together ...
Imagine the ball has taken a trajectory for the right Gamma of Sarganis (that I remembered him eh?) And the moment it passes over his hands βει the supervisor cuts the power !!! The dishonorable γυναίκα .. womanaaaa, called the rhyme-electrician who placed it for us, to take it down!
And yet, the voltage monitor shows us every problem of the provider's network (let's say HEDNO) and interrupts our electricity supply, so that the TV does not burn out and we are too late to see Menegaki again, because francs for a new TV…. hard times!!!
Add voltage and neutral loss monitor to existing panel
The voltage monitor can be only phase but also neutral, of course we prefer the latter (a little more expensive) but we have our head calm from any defect of HEDNO or our network in general. A tool that shows us the source of the problems in the current and makes us understand exactly what the problem is. Because if the neutral of HEDNO is cut… .. again, cry Charalambos! There we will burn whatever device is in the house. And who then (wrongly of course) deals with lawsuits against the provider.
And the voltage monitor, therefore, is not difficult or expensive I would say, for placement on our board. Passable material for our pocket and necessary I would say mainly in TN network… read the relevant article ... Monitor of phases and neutral loss
Another relatively inexpensive accessory is the bipolar fuses! What is bipolar and what is its use?
Read in detail what bipolar security is and why we should prefer it ... BIPOLAR SECURITY or better L + N
This fuse can be placed either from the beginning on the panel, or we replace the old ones with the bipolar ones! This requires a little extra work in our electrical panel but is worth the effort and το .a little money!
It is a very useful material, especially for consumers who have frequent power outages resulting in the relay falling and waiting without electricity, when the electrician will come for the restoration (many times the relay is broken, the wretched one)
In appearance, it is no different from simple fuses, but it is distinguished by the most ... experts from the .... written on it ...
The installation of a bipolar fuse, of course, presupposes that it has been installed correctly and not a neutral one for 5 fuses εκεί .. there you will understand if your electrician did his job properly.
Those of you who have a fresh installation, call your technician and put this wish on the table. If he rejects it μη .. do not introduce him again to the Bangladeshis in the huts (meaning that his nest is dirty) if he immediately says yes to you, then he is good and of course proceed with the installation of these fuses.
You will be really saved ...
Imagine missing a vacation and having your freezer or fridge full of stuff (food) and the leakage relay falling for any reason! The damage is great, many people have experienced it. But when we have bipolar fuses on our table, then when we leave we take them all down except the one that supplies our refrigerator or freezers. So the only case for the leakage relay to fall now, is that the refrigerator or freezer itself has a problem !!! Well then .... let the old vine go ...
or drop your relay at a party and wait for an electrician to come for the fault and complain that it's late at 3 o'clock at night. While with the bipolar fuses, you will close this line that presents the problem only and you will continue the celebration or the festival, safely and… .without a lamp, or without the light of the living room… ..
I will close with one last accessory that I highly recommend, very useful in many cases and especially in houses that are located in the countryside and beyond. I believe that every painting must have a lightning rod !! (I still do not have it in my house!)
Lightning
Lightning !! I almost forgot! Many of us have noticed that every time Jupiter strikes our neighborhood, we buy a new refrigerator or TV the next day or another appliance! Because this; Why didn't we give a little money to put a lightning rod on the board.
It is a device that will grab the throats from the throat, the big surges and will throw them with rage in the dirt! So you will say to the lightning…. From here the road to the earth and not from my little devices.
Of course, a lightning rod will grab the large currents (hundreds of thousands of volts) to throw them in the "garbage". But some currents (a few thousand volts) will escape the Lightning and will pass (unfortunately) to our devices. There we have to put socket devices, which dive from the throat, that has escaped the lightning, with spectacular results in most cases.
What I mention to you in this article, of course, is that I always suggest you look at something branded. Searching the internet is of course, but as soon as you see Chinese, 30 and 50% lower in price than the brands… .. far. The electrical material concerns the safety of you and your children, but also of your home or store.
There are well-known companies, more or less known to everyone, from which you should prefer their material. For better or worse, they are the only ones who test every material in detail before promoting it to you.
An important note: Whatever material on the electrical panel, make sure the screws are tight. Loose tightness causes electrical fires
!! Tighten the screws!
