I recently read that statistics show that there is a fire in Germany every 2 to 3 minutes. By far the most common cause of fire is a faulty electrical device or system. Nearly every third fire can be traced back to this. The main cause of fires in electrical equipment or devices are insulation faults. How does this happen?
In this article you can read about the role insulation faults play in electrical fires and how you can prevent such fires.
Insulation faults are responsible for most electrical fires
Electrical equipment and devices are normally designed in such a way that no fire can occur even when heated. Although heat is generated by high currents, this heat should be dissipated without any problems. This is different, however, if an insulation fault occurs somewhere in the system. Such faults are caused, for example, by high mechanical stress on cables and wires (kinks and breaks), other external influences such as heat, moisture and cold or by natural ageing processes.
You might think that such insulation faults can be neglected. But far from it! If an insulation fault occurs, sometimes even small currents are enough to cause a fire. With a mains voltage of 230 volts, 300 mA is enough! It can get very hot very quickly at the faulty spot. This is how most electrical fires start. And once a fire has started, it quickly eats its way through other parts of the device or system.
Safety in all power systems
Such electrical faults cannot be 100% prevented. However, you can prevent this in machines and larger electrical installations and systems. The key to fire protection is continuously monitoring the electrical system.
- In an unearthed system (IT network), an insulation monitoring device detects the deterioration of insulation (How does insulation monitoring work?) and reports it safely and quickly before a dangerous fire can occur.
- In earthed systems (TT or TN network), insulation and other faults in machines or systems can be reliably detected with the help of residual current monitors (How does residual current monitoring work?). These devices detect insulation faults in an indirect manner. If a current flows via the protective conductor, e.g. due to faulty insulation, the residual current device detects the fault current and signals it before such large currents are generated that a fire occurs.
More than active fire protection
By using insulation monitoring devices or residual current monitoring devices, electrical fires can therefore be actively avoided or even prevented. Machines and systems equipped with Bender's proven measuring technology are safer and more reliable and make an important contribution to fire protection. System operators can benefit from this.
If you would like to know more about Bender safety technology, please contact us. Our experts can help you.
