Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A residual-current device (RCD), residual-current circuit breaker (RCCB) or ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) [a] is an electrical safety device that interrupts an electrical circuit when the current passing through a conductor is not equal and opposite in both directions, therefore indicating leakage current to ground or current flowing to another powered conductor.
A wire break in the fault to load section, or in the earth to ground section, will disable operation of the ELCB. Requirement of an additional third wire from the load to the ELCB. Separate devices cannot be grounded individually. Any additional connection to Earth on the protected system can disable the detector.
A ground conductor only carries significant current if there is a circuit fault that would otherwise energize exposed conductive parts and present a shock hazard. In that case, circuit protection devices may detect a fault to a grounded metal enclosure and automatically de-energize the circuit, or may provide a warning of a ground fault.
An open-circuit fault occurs if a circuit is interrupted by a failure of a current-carrying wire (phase or neutral) or a blown fuse or circuit breaker. In three-phase systems, a fault may involve one or more phases and ground, or may occur only between phases. In a "ground fault" or "earth fault", current flows into the earth.
A ground fault protection relay must trip the breaker to protect the circuit before overheating of the resistor occurs. High-resistance grounding (HRG) systems use an NGR to limit the fault current to 25 A or less. They have a continuous rating, and are designed to operate with a single-ground fault.
When current flows from a line conductor to an earth wire, as is the case when a line conductor makes contact with an earthed surface in a Class I appliance, an automatic disconnection of supply (ADS) device such as a circuit breaker or a residual-current device (RCD) will automatically open the circuit to clear the fault. [7]
Each phase of the circuit is run in a separate grounded metal enclosure. The only fault possible is a phase-to-ground fault, since the enclosures are separated. This type of bus can be rated up to 50,000 amperes and up to hundreds of kilovolts (during normal service, not just for faults), but is not used for building wiring in the conventional ...
Single-wire earth return (SWER) or single-wire ground return is a single-wire transmission line which supplies single-phase electric power from an electrical grid to remote areas at lowest cost. The earth (or sometimes a body of water) is used as the return path for the current, to avoid the need for a second wire (or neutral wire ) to act as a ...