Effective lightning and surge protection requires a total approach says Warren Botten of Clearline, a Midrand-based lightning and surge protection company.
"While some systems require special treatment consideration, there is no shortcut when it comes to ensuring immunity to strikes and induced surges," he says.
During the last decade, major advances have been made in electronic technology with micro-miniaturisation leading the way. This has also increased the susceptibility to damage by lightning and induced surges.
Adoption by the South African Bureau of Standards SABS IEC 61024-1 (protection of building structures against lightning electro-magnetic pulses (LEMP) and IEC 61312-1 (protection of information systems against LEMP) have paved the way for the design of protection systems that will greatly increase the reliability of installed electronic and communication equipment.
"While most systems designed and manufactured overseas have some form of protection included in their design, these often prove inadequate for the harsh lighting conditions experienced in many parts of South Africa," says Botten. "Engineers need to take a fresh look and consider the environment in which an installation has to operate."
The South African Weather Service recently commissioned a country-wide monitoring system recording the number of lightning strikes and the intensity of strikes in various areas. Early results indicate that the frequency and severity of strikes has been under-estimated.
One of the basic requirements is to fit protection on the incoming mains supply. Clearline has recently introduced a new range of locally-manufactured class II surge arrestors. Manufactured at its plant in Midrand, the new range carries the SABC mark and is fully compliant with SANS 61643-1. This is the first range designed and manufactured to international standards with the harsh South African lightning conditions in mind. The new range includes single-pole, double-pole, three-phase and sparkgap-based arrestors.
Clearline has developed a large number of specialised protection systems. Included in this range is the Fibrepac Fibre Optic Interfaces. These interfaces provide excellent immunity from induced lightning and other electrical noise sources and feature very high isolation, eliminate ground loops and support high data rates and offer extended link length capability, according to the company. Ground potential differences between connected equipment in separate buildings are also eliminated.
Clearline offers a number of specialised products in this range supporting all popular communication protocols such as RS422 and RS485. Products are available for half and full duplex for both glass and plastic optical cabling.
For more information contact Clearline, 011 848 1100.
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