When one gets an electric shock, you act as the earthing and sometimes, the electricity might flow through your heart interfering with the normal electrical impulses that keep the heart beating. This could stop your heart instantly. To prevent such cases, there should be safety switches in your house. They ensure that everybody living in that house is safe enough. These gadgets are designed to interrupt excessive current switching off the power immediately when it reaches dangerous levels.
For every house or business premises, there should be safety switches and the people in that house should check if they are in good working condition. For instance, qualified personnel, like Brisbane Electrician, can do regular checks every two to three months.
Using the safety switches
The installation of safety switches in a house or business premises is not expensive. When renting a home, the owner must provide a safety switch installation if there are none. For those of you renting an older home or building, you can install safety switches at your own cost. The same goes for when you are renovating your place. You should have safety switches for power and lighting circuits. For those people selling the property, it is crucial to establish if there are existing safety switches or not.
Safety switches versus fuses and circuit breakers
Many people may confuse safety switches with circuit breakers. Circuit breakers are present in many buildings and homes. They cut the power off where there is too much current flowing through the electrical wiring. This can potentially heat electrical appliances or wires and result to fire. Fuses and circuit breakers protect the appliances and wiring.
Safety switches, fuses, and circuit breakers are meant to cut off any excessive power flow. However, a safety switch does it on a bigger scale because it protects one from the electrical shocks and injuries and even death. They cannot replace circuit breakers, although they cannot replace them.
Testing your safety switch
For safety switches to protect you and your property, they must function optimally. It is crucial to ensure that there are regular checks every three months. You can press the TEST button on safety switches, which trips the switch to off position. You then switch it back to the ON position. If this does not work, there is something wrong, and a licensed electrician can fix the problem for you.
When to comes to your business premises, ensure that your safety switches are tested, and the records kept safe.
Nuisance tripping, faults and resetting your safety switches
Any power tripping maybe a result of a temporary fault, nuisance tripping or lightning. If you restore the safety switch, the power should come back on. If after resetting your safety switch does not bring the power back on, you might have a faulty appliance or wiring connected to the circuit. Switch off the power and remove the faulty appliance. If you are not sure of the faulty appliance, switch off the power, unplug one appliance independently until you find the faulty one, and then reset the safety switch. If this does not work, get a licensed electrician to correct the fault.
Be aware of different safety switches
You should be familiar with different safety switches. They include:
• Meter box unit switchboard is installed on the main switchboard and provides full protection or selected circuit protection
• Powerpoint units are safety switches that are inbuilt in a single power point to provide single circuit protection
• The portable unit is used with extension cords and portable power apparatuses
• Combination safety switches and circuit breakers prevent electrical shocks and also shields electrical circuits and appliances from any eventuality
Electrocution
Switchboards should have an explicit warning about the power source available and how they can be isolated. This will reduce chances of electrocution.
August 22, 2018