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Forum Grounding issues with two supposedly isolated components
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Related

Grounding issues with two supposedly isolated components

Catwell
Catwell over 15 years ago
A friend of mine worked at a pizza restaurant and told me about a piece of equipment they had that would shock people pretty intensely. It was a machine that spun dough flat, into pizza shape. (For no more tired pizza chef arms). All it was, was a motor attached to a round pan. The motor would be turned on and spin the pan. But if the motor was plugged in, anyone who touched anything on this device would get a nasty shock. It was wired up neatly and correctly. I saw that the motor was grounded properly. So, my only guess is that a motor winding was energizing the device. Has anyone ever experienced any motor winding issues like this?
 
Another was a rather large transformer used on a CNC mill. It was attached to metal plate inside a control box. The AC power connected directly to it, hot & neutral. When on, the transformer would energize the plate it was connected to. It didn't send 120VAC to the plate, it was more like 50-60VAC differential from the plate to the earth. Obviously, enough to kill someone. I actually could work on this problem, unlike the pizza machine. I ended up placing the green, ground AC wire, to the plate to absorb the transients. Was this transformer leaking? Anyone have issues with large leaking transformers?
 
Cabe
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  • enrico.migchels
    0 enrico.migchels over 15 years ago

    Hi Cabe,

     

    Electronics which have to pass the safety barrier from grid to touchable parts have to fulfil standards. For double isolated equipement in complaince with IEC60065/950 Creepage/creepage distances through air and through material are 6mm. (industrial standards are different though). The end test is a so called hipot test where a high test voltage is placed between 'hot' and 'hold' parts 3kV AC. No flashover may occur. But... There are always leakage currents. It is allowed to have 250uA leakage current, so 4M7 between hot and called, or a capacitor of about 4n7. These devices a sometimes necessary for EMI and other reasons.

    For grounded equipment, bolted firmly to the safety ground (which is in face neutral as the neutral is ground at the grid) the creepage/clearance is 3mm and the leakage can also be higher. The standard assumes that the application is correctly grounded. If a ground connection can handle less current than 25A of it can be disassembled by a tool (screwdriver) by an end-customer, this is not considered as a part of the safety protection. The applications you mention should be properly grounded.

     

    Best regards, Enrico

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