Issue 138 May - July 2020

Please note: The issue content below is just a summary of the articles in the printed magazine.
The articles are not available on-line. Please refer to the printed magazine for the complete article.
COVER STORY
New LED chain lighting from Jackson

Getting enough temporary light into a construction site has always been a challenge but now it has never been easier following the launch of a new LED chain lighting system by Jackson.

The new TPL Chain Lights are the latest addition to the Jackson Lifeguard lighting range and offer a compact, long-life, rough-service LED solution which takes up a lot less room in the van.

With 1200 lumens produced from each of 10 lamps on a typical chain of 25 metres, you can light up a temporary workspace with brighter, whiter light for safer and more productive work, says Jackson Industries general manager, Mark Jackson.

With 1200 lumens produced from each of 10 lamps on a typical chain of 25 metres, you can light up a temporary workspace with brighter, whiter light for safer and more productive work, says Jackson Industries general manager, Mark Jackson.

“If you need more light in a larger space you can daisy chain up to 250 metres with no loss of light output and you can run TPL indoors, outdoors and even under water and it won’t fail.”

Jackson says the new TPL Chain Lights are not only the most robust temporary chain lights designed for New Zealand conditions, they are also the most electrically safe being double insulated and with an earth wire as standard, allowing for interconnecting TPL strings.

The release of the LED chain lighting system follows on from the company’s innovative Temporary Site Lighting (TSL) solution over four years ago.

Please refer to the printed magazine for the complete article
NEWS
Machine installation – navigating the roadblocks to compliance

The government’s decision to close the country’s borders and shut down the private sector to deal with the health and safety risks posed by the latest flu-like virus has caused a massive disruption to product supply chains.

While many businesses now face an uncertain future, there has been a lot of questioning on the wisdom of supply of manufactured products from China and whether the cheapness of Chinese manufacturing offers less advantage today than more secure but more expensive supply would closer to home.

But for local industrial and manufacturing companies that want to bring machinery into the country to improve their own production processes and compete more effectively, the government has long imposed compliance barriers also under the pretext of health and safety that cause no less a disruption to normal production.

A combination of delays and compliance costs add to the risks facing New Zealand industrial companies, particularly where compliance requirements have become too complex for machine and industrial equipment installers to understand and where criminal prosecution awaits them if they get it wrong.

This article focuses on this issue and follows on from the ‘Safety versus compliance’ article in the previous issue of ElectroLink. It addresses the role the electrical legislation plays in the compliance complex and whether there is a clear path for electrical equipment installers to achieve an acceptable level of safety under the current law and in ways that are flexible but certain enough for installers to get the job done promptly while managing their risks.

Please refer to the printed magazine for the complete article
NEWS
New training approach for lines companies

The development of a new approach to training in the electricity supply industry is now underway following the launch of an Energy Academy to engage with the industry and identify the skills needed for the future and transform the way those skills are generated.

Initiated by CaVnterbury network company Orion and its contracting subsidiary Connetics, the Energy Academy project was launched in March by the Orion Group when it became clear that its own future success depended on a greater range of skills than is currently being provided. All network companies are facing similar challenges in grappling with future needs, says Jono Brent.

After nine years running Connetics, Brent has been tasked with coming up with a solution for this training deficit and has launched an industry engagement project as an initial project for the Energy Academy.

Please refer to the printed magazine for the complete article
Are our electrical regulations and standards fit for purpose?

The president of the New Zealand Electrical Inspectors Association (NZEIA), Richard Gibbens, asks if changes are needed to the way electrical rules are written

NZEIA is a network of electrical inspectors. We, like electricians are commonly faced with issues relating to our work and when we need to, we each seek answers through our regulations and standards.

Is there a problem?

There is and it is that from time to time matters and issues that arise are not easily or clearly represented in our regulations and standards. Matters may range from what a regulation or standard actually says to the way they attempt to address issues with seemingly vague and/or ambiguous answers. At the extreme end, the requirements can be conflicting and misleading.

Please refer to the printed magazine for the complete article
COVER STORY
Industrial control systems

ndustrial control systems such as programmable logic controllers have been the backbone of automation for the past few decades. Their popularity in manufacturing and some process industries since they first came to prominence in the 1970s is undeniable. Their influence has been so great that we can now see that they heralded in the third major phase of industrialisation – the computerisation of processes.

Most industrial control system (ICS) users would concur that the established vendors produce highly robust products that give years of trouble-free service. And this is despite many ICSs working in rather harsh environments where they must contend with electrical noise, heat, dust and the like.

Please refer to the printed magazine for the complete article
How screwless clamp terminals can make life easier

Every electrician who has ever connected industrial devices in an electrical cabinet will know the enormous amount of time required just to connect wires. In fact, wiring is often the most time-consuming task within a cabinet build.

Yet correct and proper wiring is vitally important as loose or suspect connections can lead to unsatisfactory results ranging from intermittent operation to potentially disastrous short circuits or even fires. Clearly, all wires must be securely fastened and, given the number of terminations within a cabinet, the connection procedure must be quick and easy. The cabinet will also need regular maintenance and upgrades during its lifetime, so the procedure for disconnections must be equally quick and easy.

Traditionally, screw terminals have been used on every electrical device. However, manufacturers of industrial products have long sought a better method of fastening wires. For them, screw terminals are bulky, occupying a relatively large amount of space. They are also seen as problematic, producing a relatively high number of bad connections.

This article considers the benefits of screwless clamping terminals and explore the latest innovations, like push-in terminals.

Please refer to the printed magazine for the complete article
COVER STORY
Light for learning

Lighting design for schools and preschools has challenges. A limited budget may be the one that springs to mind, but lighting for education also needs to be flexible enough to work for multiple tasks and good enough to accommodate eyesight that is poor or not yet fully developed – on top of ticking all the usual lighting design boxes.

When designing or installing lighting for education facilities in New Zealand, the standards for basic safety are the Wiring Rules (Standard AS/NZS 3000:2007) and the New Zealand Building Code.

The standards for lighting performance – ensuring lighting is fit for purpose – are the AS/NZS 1680 series of standards, with AS/NZS 1680.2.3 dedicated to lighting for education.

Additional standards that apply to people working on Ministry of Education (MoE) projects are covered in the MoE document ‘Electrical Installations: Standards for Schools’ which is available on the Ministry’s website, and in the BRANZ guide ‘Designing Quality Learning Spaces: Lighting’, also on the website.

Kim Shannon is the head of the education infrastructure service for the Ministry of Education. She says the BRANZ guide is being revised and the updated version will be published later this year.

Please refer to the printed magazine for the complete article
Luminaires for fire-rated installations

London, three years ago: it started as a small fire in the back of someone’s fridge. It ended up getting through to the air cavity in the exterior cladding of the Grenfell Tower residential block, spreading rapidly and killing seventy-two people.

The shockwaves of this disaster have reached New Zealand’s shores. Our building regulators, like their counterparts across the world, are looking for improvements in building safety and compliance. Building Consent Authorities (BCAs) here are focusing on the systems designed to protect people in the event of a fire – a fire that could start with something as small as spark in a faulty appliance, but end up penetrating a fire barrier through unsafe light fittings recessed in it.

Unfortunately, lighting designers and installers wanting to reduce their liability for an unsafe design or installation by verifying a fire-rating for a fitting in its installed system do not have an easy task understanding the law that determines it.

Please refer to the printed magazine for the complete article
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