Who Uses Selective Coordination?

1. Designers: Those who are making the plans for any structure obviously need to account for the essentials in electrical systems - branch circuits, feeders, and sub-feeders. They need to be planning effective selective coordination for every single thing.

2. Plan Review/Inspectors: Those who review the original design plan have a critical job. Inspectors need to look at power systems, determine whether they are compliant or not, and correct any problems according to this.
 
3. Engineers: These are the ones who will have to stamp any documents detailing the design, providing that they are designs that actually achieve proper selective coordination.

4. Contrators: Their role here would be installing the electrical system as it was designed. Optimally, again, the system was designed originally with good selective coordination in mind.

All of these types of people are affected by the NEC in that they play a huge role in compliance issues. The 2008 NEC has a purpose, like I mentioned in the beginning, to improve safety conditions and avoid panic-inducing blackouts.

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selective coordination, nec 2008, designers, inspectors, engineers, contractors, electrical systems, safety, blackouts, power

Effective Selective Coordination Set-ups - Pt. 2

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cooper bussmann, fuses, circuit breakers, selective corrdination, calculation, selectivity ratios, electrical distribution, quality, power, blackouts, faults, nec 2008

Effective Selective Coordination Set-ups - Pt. 1

Without properly isolated faulted circuit from all of the other components in an electrical system, you're setting yourself up for many guaranteed power blackouts. Here's a pretty clear illustration of what effective selective coordination is able to do:

Next time, I'm going to cover some of the popular methods used in determining selective coordination quality in an existing system. Stick around for that because I'll be giving some thoughts on what's really the best way.

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buldings, selective corrdination, electrical distribution, quality, power, blackouts, faults, nec 2008

Fuses and NEC 2008 Changes

This is where "selective coordination" comes into play. Selective coordination is the act of isolating a faulted circuit from the rest of an electrical system, which is the best way to eliminate unnecessary power outages. You do this by using overcurrent protective devices that have ratings and settings just like a particular overcurrent condition.

• Healthcare facilities, which have essential electrical systems like critical branches and life safety branches. (Article 517.26)
• Certain types of elevators (Article 620.62)
• Emergency systems in places where people frequently assemble, such as hotels, theaters, sports arenas, health care facilities, etc. (Article 700.27)
• Legally required standby systems, like those that serve loads in heating and refrigeration, smoke systems, communication systems, ventilation systems, sewage disposal, and other processes where any interruption would be hazardous. (Article 701.18)
• Critical Operations Power Systems with loads for communication and data centers. (Article 708.54)

I'll pick up next time with more detail on what selective coordination is, and what compliance means in light of NEC.

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bussmann, fuses, selective coordination, applications, nec 2008, national electric code, power, safety

Upcoming Series on "Selective Coordination"

To answer these questions - and certainly a slew of others - I'm starting a series of posts on the latest National Electric Code (NEC) requirements in relation to fuses.

You can look forward to a number of posts over the next few weeks covering all this.

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bussmann, fuses, selective coordination, support, nec, 2008, electrical

Bussmann's Low-Peak Fuse Advantage

1. Deep burns and even death to workers because of clothing catching fire.*
2. Seriously broken bones like fractured ribs, collapsed lungs, and any other conceivable injury that would be caused by being hurled a great distance.*
3. These blasts are also known to hurl equipment shrapnel at ridiculously high velocities (we're talking in excess of around 700 m.p.h.).*

This is serious stuff. But as we've come to understand the dangers better over the years, companies like Cooper Bussman have also come up with great solutions. As opposed to simple circuit breakers, for example, Bussmann's Low-Peak fuses are specifically made to provide more efficient downtime reduction, improved workplace safety, and exceptionable code compliance. Two of the best Low-Peak features, in my opinion, are current-limits on the fuses (which cut down substantially on the risk of arc-flashes) and easyID fuse indication technology (which tells you in black-and-white exactly when a fuse needs replacing).

Low-Peak fuses are a smart move if you want to correct these common workplace problems. I can't stress enough how important it is to make electrical work simple and hazard-free for your personnel.

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OneStopBuy.com Now Carrying Bussman Fuses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OneStopBuy.com Now Carrying Bussmann Fuses

Independence, KS – May 14, 2009 -- OneStopBuy.com, Inc. today announced that they have begun offering complete access to over 6,000 Cooper Bussmann fuses. With a more than 90-year history, Cooper Bussmann remains one of the finest manufacturers of North American and European-styled fuses for the electrical, electronics and transportation industries, plus inductors and transformers for power quality in electronic applications.

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