Surge Protection for Pole Mounted Lighting Contactors Intelligent LED Street Lights Today's increased reliance on very sensitive electronics makes surge protection an important topic for LED Lighting. The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety study found that $26 billion dollars was lost due to non-lightning power surges. In addition, there are about 25 million lightning strikes in the US each year that cause between $650M to $1B in losses according to the Insurance Information Institute, State Farm©. Pole mounted lighting contactors are typically used in parking lots, intersections, highway entrance ramps and sub stations where multiple outdoor lights are wired into one location. Given their exposed mounting locations, lighting contactors can be damaged by surges caused by lighting, power cross and power switching. To assure system uptime and reduced maintenance costs, a comprehensive approach to surge protection should be considered. Immunity Against Surges The latest release of ANSI C136.2-2018 provides surge protection requirements for luminaires and control devices. Based on performance requirements and transient immunity testing, these devices can be classified into three categories: Exposure LevelSurge Rating Typical6kV/3kA Enhanced10kV/5kA Extreme20kV/10kA The ANSI C136.2-2018 standard can also be used as guideline for evaluating the surge immunity of other devices attached to light poles such as lighting contactors. In cases where internal protection of equipment is insufficient a reccommended external Surge Protection Device should be installed to assure long and reliable performance. | Lighting Contactor | This table shows the recommended C136.2-2018 transient immunity levels for common outdoor lighting applications: Lighting Application Electrical Transient Immunity 6kV/3kA10kV/5kA20kV/10kA Building entrance, building exteriorX Parking garage, parking lot, tunnel X Street roadway, Smart Pole, airport X Selecting the appropriate SPD Surge Protective Devices (SPDs) shall be UL1449 Type 4CA or better including Type 1, Type 2, Type 1CA and Type 2CA. Per ANSI C136.2-2017, it should be tested to the appropriate exposure level based on the application or installed location. The UL1449 Type 4CA Surge Protective Devices (SPD) have undergone more stringent safety testing than UL1449 Type 5 Components including the critical abnormal overvoltage - limited current testing. Contactors can be tested to ANSI C136.2-2018 with the SPD installed. The coordination of the SPD is key in making sure that the contactors pass testing and not only the SPD passes by itself. CITEL can provide manufacturers with full C136.2 surge testing for all exposure levels in our surge laboratory in Miramar, FL. Recommended Surge Protectors for Pole Mounted Lighting Contactors Lighting Contactor: Input 120/240Vac 120Vac Control Mounting LocationVoltage TypeSystemSurge Protector Model#Link Internal Mount Hand HoleInput Line Voltage120-240Vac DS73US-120T/G External MountOutput Control Voltage120-277Vac MLPXUVG-277S Lighting Contactor: Input 277/480Vac 277Vac Control Mounting LocationVoltage TypeSystemSurge Protector Model#Link Interna Mount Hand Hole 120-480Vac DS74US-277Y/G External MountOutput Control Voltage120-277Vac MLPXUVG-277S References #Title 1NFPA 70 edition 2020, Article 670 Industrial Machinery, 670.6 Surge Protection 2NFPA 70 edition 2014, “Data Assessment for Electrical Surge Protective Devices” 3NFPA 79 edition 2018 4NFPA 79 edition 2018, Annex C, Examples of Industrial Machines Covered by NFPA 79 5ANSI C62.41, Low-Voltage AC Power Circuits 6ANSI C136.2, Roadway and Area Lighting Equipment - Dielectric Withstand and Electrical Transient 7UL8801, Outline of Investigation for Photovoltaic (PV) Luminaire Systems 8UL1598, Luminaires 9UL924, Emergency Lighting and Power Equipment 10UL1449 5th Edition, Surge Protective Devices 11UL497B, Surge Protectors for Data Lines and Fire-Alarm Circuits 12UL497E, Antenna Lead-in Conductors 13UL508, Industrial Control Equipment 14IEC 61643-11, Low-Voltage Surge Protective Devices - Part 11: Surge Protective Devices Connected To Low-Voltage Power Systems - Requirements And Test Methods 15IEC 61643-21, Low Voltage Surge Protective Devices - Part 21: Surge Protective Devices Connected To Telecommunications And Signalling Networks - Performance Requirements And Testing Methods 16IEC 61000-45, Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) - Part 4-5: Testing And Measurement Techniques - Surge Immunity Test 17CSA 107.1, General Use Power Supplies 18CSA 141, Emergency Lighting Equipment 19CSA 250, Luminaires 20NOM-001-SCFI, Standard for Electronic Equipment 21NOM-003-SCFI, Electrical Products - Safety Requirements Contact us to develop a surge mitigation solution for your application Where to purchase Citel SPD's