CEG Construction Guide

Design and Construction

Equipment shall be designed and constructed so that under all

conditions of normal use and under likely abnormal use or
single fault conditions, protection is provided to reduce the risk
of personal injury from electric shock or other hazards.
Equipment shall be designed to be safe at any supply voltage to
which it is intended to be connected.

Labelling and Durability

Markings should be durable and legible. (for durability normal

use should be taken into account) the durability test is as
follows. Rub label with water for 15 seconds. Rub label with
petroleum spirit for 15 seconds. Markings should be legible. The
lightning bolt / 230V yellow stickers are designed to pass this
test. Use them.
`L` shall be used for the live conductor labelling.
`N` shall be used for the neutral conductor labelling

Identification
The equipment shall be as a minimum marked with
a) The name or trademark of the manufacturer supplier
b) A model number, name or other means of identification of
the equipment.
c) A current P.A.T sticker.

Power Rating

Equipment should be provided with a power rating marking.

This specifies the correct voltage and frequency and current
carrying capacity.
Internal and external fuses should be labelled with their value
next to the fuse holder.
Flexible Cord inlet

The cord should enter either through a hole in insulating

material or through a properly secured insulating bushing (if the
case is metal). Power supply cords shall not be exposed to sharp
points or cutting edges within or on the surface of the equipment
or at the inlet opening or inlet bushing. The sheath of a non
detachable power supply cord shall continue into the equipment
through the inlet bushing or cord guide and shall extend by at
least half the cord diameter beyond the clamp of the cord
anchorage.
Inlet bushings where used shall be
a) Reliably fixed
b) Not removable without a tool
c) A metallic inlet bushing shall not be used in a non metallic
enclosure.

Cord Guide
To be provided if equipment has a non detachable psu cord and
which is hand held or movable in operation. It should be so
designed to protect the cord form excessive bending where it
enters the equipment. Be of an insulating material and fixed in a
reliable manner. It should project outside the equipment beyond
the inlet 5 times the overall diameter / cross sectional area of the
cord.

Using a switched IEC socket solves all these problems.

Earthing and Grounding

This symbol denotes the Primary Earth Ground

(PEG). Within Equipment there should only be one of these.
This is the first point that the incoming safety earth ground
(SEG) goes to. However if the product is made of sub
assemblies then multiple symbols are allowed as long as it
doesn’t give rise to confusion.

The PEG should be located on the main mass of the unit. For
instance on a rack mounted unit it should be mounted on the
base plate to which all sides attach. It should not be attached to
an easily removable panel ie-: the rear of the unit which maybe
removed for inspection while the system is live.
PEG Connection

A reliable configuration for Primary Earth Ground (PEG) is

shown above. The star washer’s purpose is to dig into the
chassis and provide good contact. Please ensure that similar
materials are used for connection to the chassis to prevent
galvanic corrosion. Paint, powder coating or any other
protective medium that is used on the chassis should be removed
to ensure a good connection.

SEG Connection
If a conductive cover can come into contact with hazardous
voltage in the event of a single fault and is only covered by
basic insulation (or less) then it must be grounded (earthed). The
above diagram shows the arrangement of nut, spring washer,
crimp, star washer and bolt to achieve this (SEG). Generally this
would be done to all external conductive panels within a
construction. Connections should be proof against the effect of
vibration. It is general good practice for the nuts to be of the
Nylock type.
Do not use the earth connection as mounting for any other panel
or component - it must be dedicated to the task of providing a
safety earth point. If a component mounting bolt is used, at
some stage it may be disconnected by a service (or other)
person, which means that the apparatus is unsafe until
everything is (hopefully) put back where it belongs - this does
not always happen.
Make sure that the electrical connection between metal panels is
also very well made. Some chassis are available in a kit form,
and when screwed together, may not make good electrical
contact with each other. Should the mains come in contact with
a panel that has a flaky connection with the one that is earthed
properly, the same potential for disaster is still present. All
exposed metal must be properly and securely earthed.
Class 1 equipment having an earthing terminal or contact should
be tested to ensure that a reliable return path is provided for any
earth current that may flow in case of a fault. General
requirements are
a) The earth path shall remain intact until protection which can
be reasonably for seen in use (example -: a fuse ) has operated.
b) While this earth path is intact its impedance shall remain at
levels which do not significantly or unnecessarily restrict the
fault current.
Test current is 1.5 times the rated current of the device. For 13
amp fused devices the current is 25 Amps. The earth cable
should have sufficient current carrying capacity and be capable
of such currents without excessive temperature rise.
A typical connection will have to provide a minimum resistance
of 0.1 ohm at 25A.
Never route an earth wire to the main (star) earthing point on a
chassis in such a way that it forms a partial (or full) turn around
a transformer. It is better to relocate either the star earth point or
the transformer to ensure that no earth conductor can create a
partial turn.

PREFERRED SIZE OF EARTH CABLE IS 2.5mm (13A

system assumed)
DO NOT DAISY CHAIN EARTHS.
A CRIMP IS DESIGNED FOR ONE WIRE ONLY.

Wiring
All connections, especially those of the protective bonding
circuit shall be secured against accidental loosening.
It is a requirement in numerous regulations that mains (LV) and
extra low voltage (ELV) cables are adequately isolated from
each other such that there is no risk of electric shock or damage
to the ELV side due to the two coming into contact. If a
connection does come loose it should be so restrained as not to
cause a hazard. It is for this reason that mains wiring and low
voltage wiring should be suitably separated. Mains wiring
should be in a separate loom from the low voltage wiring.
Connecting two or more conductors to a terminal is permitted if
the terminal is designed for that purpose (but not for the
protective bonding connections). Soldered connections are only
permitted where terminals are provided that are suitable for
soldering and also offer some mechanical restraint to the wire. A
wire that passes through a hole in a PCB that then is soldered is
okay as it is mechanically secured by the hole. Heat shrink
tubing over a soldered terminal is also acceptable. Mains
conductors must be wired to the standard colours (brown/blue).
 Size of terminals for mains conductors and protective
earth conductors

RATED MINIMUM NOMINAL THREAD DIAMETER (mm)

CURRENT (A)
Pillar or Stud type Screw type
Up to 10 3 3.5
Over 10 up to 16 3.5 4
Over 16 up to 25 4 5

“screw type refers to the terminal that clamps the conductor

under the head of a screw, with or without a washer “

Size of conductors

RATED CURRENT (A) MINIMUM CONDUCTOR SIZE

NOMINAL CSA mm2
Up to including 6 0.75
Over 6 up to and including 10 1.0
Over 10 up to and including 16 1.5
Over 16 up to and including 25 2.5

Stranded Wire

The end of stranded wire shall not be soldered at places where

the conductor is subject to contact pressure (terminal blocks /
crimps) unless the method of clamping is designed so as to
reduce the likelihood of a bad contact due to cold flow of solder.
 Creepage and Clearance distances (minimal)

CLASS 1 CLASS 2
(mm) (mm)
Between live parts of different 3 3
polarity
Between live parts and other 3 3
metal parts separated by basic/
reinforced insulation

Access To Energised Parts

Equipment should be constructed so that if there is an operator

access area there is adequate protection against contact with
bare parts of hazardous voltages and bare current carrying
conductive parts.
Test pin, probe and fingers can be used to try and touch
hazardous conductive parts.

Apertures
The only openings permitted in the enclosure of electrical
equipment are those which are required for proper functioning
of the equipment including dissipation of heat during use. It is
important separate parts of covers should be close fitting. Such
openings should be of a size and so disposed that the test finger
cannot be pushed through them to touch live parts and for class
2 basic insulated metal parts.
An exception maybe made for openings which are not
accessible when the equipment is fixed in its normal position of
use.