sparks
ELECTRICAL NEWS
august
2013
contractors’ corner
11
FOLLOWING the successful launch in July 2009 of the Cobalt range
of switches and sockets, Riken SA has announced the introduction
of the new‘Elite’range of switch and socket modules.
The range includes one-way, two-way, intermediate, bell-push,
double pole, and indicator switches tomeet virtually any require-
ment. All the switches have fluorescent strips, whichmake it easy
to locate the switches in the dark.
“The socket range offers a large variety of combinations and
can be interchanged at any time,”says Hartley Greger, managing
member at Riken. He adds that the flexibility and versatility of the
rangemeans that both time andmoney are saved.“Apart from the
switches and sockets there is also a range of dimmer switches, iso-
lators, shaving plugs, under-floor heating controllers and surface-
mounting extension boxes available,”says Greger, adding,“and this
means less stock holding and greater flexibility for the wholesaler
and ease of planning for the installer.”
The full range of products can be viewed at
Enquiries:(012)804-2226
Range of ‘elite’ switches and sockets launched
MAJORTech has recently launched an extensive range of IEC/SANS
certified and NRCS approved circuit breakers to complement the
current range of switches, sockets and enclosures. The circuit breakers
are brandedMajor Tech and have been tested according to IEC60947-
2 in conjunction with SANS556-1 andVC8036 to ensure the excep-
tional quality expected and delivered by Major Tech.
RhodamEvans. Veti divisional manager, says,“Circuit breakers are
automatically operated electrical switches that have been designed
to protect electrical circuits fromdamage due to overload or short
circuit. The basic function of the circuit breaker is to identify a fault
and then interrupt the flow of current. All circuit breakers have com-
mon features in how they work, but specifications vary substantially
depending on the voltage class, current rating and type of circuit
breaker,”he explains.“Major Tech’s range of circuit breakers is DIN rail
mounted and classified as‘low voltage thermal magnetic’. Thermal
magnetic circuit breakers contain two different switchingmecha-
Quality circuit breakers
now available
nisms – a bi-metallic strip (thermal) and a solenoid
(electromagnet). The bi-metallic strip serves as a
means of handling overcurrent and themagnetic
portion of the circuit breaker is to handle short
circuits,”says Evans.
“The International Standard, IEC60947-2, defines
the rated current of a circuit breaker as themaxi-
mum current that the circuit breaker is designed to
carry continuously (at an ambient air temperature
of 30°C). Themost common values for the rated
current of low voltage circuit breakers are 6A, 10A,
16A, 20A, 25A, 32A, 40A, 50A and 63A, which are all
available in theMajor Tech range.”Evans says that
circuit breakers also vary according to instantane-
ous tripping current, which is theminimumvalue
of current that causes the circuit breaker to trip
without intentional time delay in less than 100ms
and is illustrated by different curves.
“Major Tech currently offers a C-curve circuit
breaker, which indicates that the circuit breaker
trips instantaneously above 5 In and up to and
including 10 In.”He says that the final important
safety aspect is the fault current rating (kA rating)
of the circuit breaker.“The value of the kA rating
determines themaximumamount of current
(rupture capacity) a circuit breaker can handle
under fault conditions. For example, a value of
6kAmeans that the circuit breaker can withstand
6 000A of current during the brief time it takes
to trip,”explains Evans, adding,“Major Tech offers
both a 3kA and 6kA offer to cover most applica-
tions downstream from themain circuit breaker
but the appropriate kA ratingmust be calculated
through cascade tables.”
Enquiries: (011) 872-5500
