Sean Breheny cornell.edu> writes: > My questions for anyone who is knowledgeable about electrical codes in > the EU are: > > 1) What is the relevant code for such industrial electrical > installations? Is there a pan-EU code or will it be different for each > country or even each local authority? Each country has its own specifications, plugs, and regulations but they are moving towards unification with the same speed and enthusiasm the US is moving from imperial to metric units. Independently from other considerations, you have to have your circuits fused to cover the weakest link. Iow in a 32A circuit where a 16A consumer is connected, which specifies that it needs to be protected with 16A fuses, you have to provide this protection for it. The usual reason is that cables and other components are not rated for the higher current and may overheat and cause problems in case a fault occurs. So if your equipment requires it to be fused to 16A on the supply side and you can't insure that (for example because your provider may change fuses to a higher rating later) then you have to provide that protection at the input (plug) of your device, either by using a special panel you provide or by using a fused plug. I know cases where a fire was started by a low current spec cable supplying a low power (0.5A fused) consumer. The cheap cable was plugged with a standard Euro plug into a power bar which was on a 32A circuit. A piece of heavy equipment was "parked" on the cable and after several hours or days the plastic carpet caught fire under it and burned for a while until it was discovered. the high power fuses never parted until the power was pulled to put out the fire. With 220V and 32A fuses a cable+contact resistance of about 5-7 ohms will not cause the 32A fuse to go but it will dissipate a respectable 1000+W, usually at one point and turning all of it into heat. A UK style fused plug would have avoided the problem, having a 0.5A fuse in the plug itself. I think that UK style fused plugs are archaic and enormously oversized but the built in fuse is a great idea. There exist Euro plugs with built in 20mm fuse but they are very rare and I only saw one or two over the years. Not an expert, -- Peter -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist