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Did the SPD work?

Northern Spark

Domestic installation. PME supply. 50A type b mcb in meter cupboard, 16mm armoured to consumer unit in house. BG consumer unit with type 2 SPD.

There was a power cut, and seemingly a network born over voltage(a neighbour reported that their type 3 spd incorporated into a plug board operated). Unclear wether the over voltage was when the power failed or when it was restored. The 50A mcb in the meter cupboard and a 20A type b rcbo in the consumer unit protecting the kitchen socket circuit both tripped. The 32A type b mcb protecting the spd did not trip. A day or two later the customer noticed that their google nest mini smart speaker(other smart speakers are available) was not working and discovered its plug and the socket it was plugged in to were charred. It was plugged into a socket that is probably the closest one to the consumer unit. The spd indicator remained green. No other signs of damage to anything.

Did the spd work?

Why did the 50A and 20A breakers operate, but not the 32A breaker protecting the spd? If the spd works, shouldn't it shunt the fault current and therefore trip its breaker?

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    How do you know it did not work, and that without it there may have been far more damage ? Short of having an identical test house with all the same potential victim equipment but no SPD, we can really say almost nothing with any great  confidence. There may have been spikes that the SPD successfully clipped or there may have been none. 

    The tripping of the MCBS and the arc damage in the speaker may well relate if during the arc there was in effect a near L-N short.  However that sort of fault would be accompanied by a low voltage and we'd not expect the SPD to help much with that.

    Personally I'm in the SPDs are scarcely worth it camp, but it is very hard to prove if they are worth having or not.

    Mike.

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  • 0

    How do you know it did not work, and that without it there may have been far more damage ? Short of having an identical test house with all the same potential victim equipment but no SPD, we can really say almost nothing with any great  confidence. There may have been spikes that the SPD successfully clipped or there may have been none. 

    The tripping of the MCBS and the arc damage in the speaker may well relate if during the arc there was in effect a near L-N short.  However that sort of fault would be accompanied by a low voltage and we'd not expect the SPD to help much with that.

    Personally I'm in the SPDs are scarcely worth it camp, but it is very hard to prove if they are worth having or not.

    Mike.

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