WAGO 2273 "Limited number of current-interrupting operations"

Does the same statement generally apply to the cables the connector is joining together?


How many times can twin and earth withstand a Big Bang, particularly the reduced size CPC?


 Andy Betteridge 

How many times can twin and earth withstand a Big Bang, particularly the reduced size CPC?


More times than my side-cutters can Andy!


Regards


BOD

Depends what number it is limited to, and how long the cooling off period is required between retries.

An 'unlimited no.' would be hard to guarantee or test, but on the other hand if it is a very low  number, say less than 10, then that might be a problem for some folk with a 'dodgem car' debugging style to finding tripping faults.

They are not switches, so do we have a Google-style translation error?


Put another way - eh? ?

Perhaps its a poor translation of "may be reused a limited number of times"???

It MIGHT mean that the connectors can be re-used, but only for a limited number of times, which seems reasonable as they are intended to be part of the PERMANENT installation. Limited re-use is reasonable, for example to replace a decorative luminaire that is connected to the fixed wiring by Wagos.


Or it MIGHT mean that they can only withstand a limited number of through faults, full short circuit current until the OCPD operates. That in my view is a rather suspect restriction. IMHO, Wago or other connectors should be able to withstand anything that the connected cables can withstand. A low quality or misused installation might be subjected to thousands of MCB trips over its lifetime.


Or it might mean that the connectors can only withstand a limited number of disconnections whilst live and under load. That is a reasonable restriction, remembering that any such (mis)use almost certainly constitutes "Live working" and should be avoided except under certain very limited circumstances.

Or it MIGHT mean that they can only withstand a limited number of through faults, full short circuit current until the OCPD operates. That in my view is a rather suspect restriction. IMHO, Wago or other connectors should be able to withstand anything that the connected cables can withstand. A low quality or misused installation might be subjected to thousands of MCB trips over its lifetime.


That is how I read the statement.................


Regards


BOD

Google suggest the phase comes from a UL standard...

 

Limited current interruption — Mating-type multi-pole splicing wire connectors are marked " Limited Number of Current Interrupting Operations, " or the equivalent, to identify that the device has been investigated for a maximum of 10 make-and-break current operations.

so I suspect it's a case of the closest US standard they could find was one for pluggable connectors (or one that also covered pluggable connectors), and that standard demands that the phase be included in the documentation.


  - Andy.

The piano type are better for switching.



Joke alert! ?