Sparks Electrical News February 2019

DBS, SWITCHES, SOCKETS AND PROTECTION

8

PLUGGING INTO NEW SA SAFETY STANDARDS

F or those who are still in the dark, the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) recently announced new plug standards that are now mandatory, and which you need to know about – es- pecially if you have home renovations or building on the horizon. Orlando Luis, CEO of Brights Hardware, explains that South Africa has adopted new plug standards – which means we will be phasing out the common fa- miliar triangular electrical plug and socket currently used, and changing to the new ‘ZA Plug’. “The new plug has the same hexagonal profile as the Europlug seen on cell phone chargers and in- cludes an earth pin. It is substantially more compact

the electrical sockets in your home if you are reno- vating or building onto an existing structure. Further- more, there are no strict deadlines for the switchover from current to new plug standards – so it is ‘busi- ness as usual’ unless you are building a brand new home. “Anyone who has questions or needs advice about electrical installations or the new ZA Plug standards, and what they need to do, can visit a local Brights store in the Western Cape and chat to one of our technical sales specialist,” says Luis. “Brights also stocks current electrical plug points and the new ZA Plug sockets.” Cell phone chargers and devices using standard

than South Africa’s three-prong plug standard, and has much thinner pins,” says Luis. “However, despite the fact that it is now required to integrate sockets that comply with the ZA Plug standard in new buildings, the old standard remains legal and the wiring code amendment does not af- fect existing buildings. This means is that new build- ings must conform to the new electrical plug socket standards.” Luis says there is some confusion as to what con- stitutes a ‘new installation’, explaining that this must be interpreted as a totally new building, and that renovations and maintenance would be excluded. The good news is that it is not necessary to switch

DB MAINTENANCE: THE SILENT DESTROYER O n route to delivering DB boards, vital components and connections might vibrate loose due to the vibration of the truck and road conditions. Although care should be taken at the factory to ensure that all connec- tions are tightened correctly and bus bar con- nections torqued at the required setting, it may be necessary to check these connections before commission of the board. George Switchboards suggest that due to the nature of our industry and components we work with, maintenance might be required every six months, specifically to power factor units and circuits that intermittently get energized i.e. out- side lighting circuit on a contactor. Have you ever thought that due to the prolonged period of expo- sure to light vibration at 50 Hz of the cables under load, thermal conditions and the expansion coeffi- cient of metals the connections might loosen and need adjustment? It is healthy for the board to be kept neat and as dust free as possible as well. The internal heat generation of circuits pose a fire hazard when combined with dust which can also damage and shorten the lifespan of components. These factors, however minute, are a problem we face in the electrical industry which makes maintenance of extreme importance to ensure longevity of any components and installations. George Switchboard Manufacturers has been in existence since 1958. The company provide vari- ous products to the energy distribution network, and more specifically, the electrical distribution network across the African continent. Europlugs will fit in the wall sockets. Annoying ‘double-adapters’ will be a thing of the past – no more wiggling a two-prong plug to get it to work, or struggling to get a plug to go into low- quality adapters. No more multi-plugs that are not fully utilised – many electronic devices come to South Africa with Europlugs attached, resulting in adapters nev- er seeing an ‘old’ three-pronged plug any more. New wall sockets can fit much more than two plugs, like the old wall sockets. You can fit at least two ZA Plugs into the space of one of the triangu- lar sockets. The new ZA Plugs are safer than our current sockets and children’s small fingers and small ob- jects will no longer fit into wall sockets. Plus, the recessed sockets on the ZA Plug mean that small fingers can no longer wrap over the edge of the plastic plug and risk touching a live prong when pulling a plug out of the socket. The newplug standardsmean that plugs and ca- bleswill take up less spacewhen being transported. Enquiries: www.brights.co.za

Enquiries: +27 (0)44 873 4137

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

FEBRUARY 2019