Tag: hazloc

NEMA/UL and IP ratings

Published on by johnball2014Leave a comment
From right to left: Small NEMA 12, Large NEMA 12, Large NEMA 4X

EXAIR manufactures Cabinet Coolers to keep your electrical components inside cool.  This will help to stop any costly shutdowns or premature electrical failures due to overheating.  The EXAIR Cabinet Cooler System is a simple device that generates cold air with no moving parts, condensers, or freon.  They are maintenance-free with a long-life cycle; and installation is quick and easy.  But when mounting the system to your electrical panel, you want to make sure that the Cabinet Cooler meets or exceeds the integrity standard for that environment.  There are standards that categorize electrical panels to protect workers, shield the environment, and contain the electrical components. 

Electrical panels come in all shapes, sizes and colors; and can be used in a variety of environments; indoor, outdoor, and even hazardous locations.  Depending on the place and setting, you will need to determine the minimum requirements for the integrity of your electrical panel.  For example, you do not want to use an “indoor only” electrical enclosure for outside areas.  Also, you would not want a standard enclosure to be used in a hazardous area, as it can be very dangerous.  The major organizations that create these electrical standards are NEMA, UL, and IP.  In this blog, I will cover these organizations and how they rate them.

NEMA, or National Electrical Manufacturer Association, and UL, or Underwriters Laboratory, are generally used in North America.  The difference between these two organizations is that the NEMA ratings are self-certifying while the UL requires testing by qualified inspectors, independent of the manufacturer, for compliance.  They use numbers and in some instances letters to indicate the type of environment that the enclosure can operate. EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems are UL listed; so, they have been tested and verified.  Currently, there are over 20 different NEMA/UL classifications.  Here is a description by WIKA that shows the different categories for both NEMA and IP.

IP, or Ingress Protection, is an international standard commonly used in Europe and is established by the International Electrotechnical Commission, or IEC.  This organization also allows for self-certification.  They use two digits to define levels of integrity for electrical enclosures against intrusion from foreign bodies and moisture. The first digit ranges from 1 to 6 which specifies the protection rating from solids.  The second digit, which ranges from 1 to 8, specifies the protection rating for ingress of water.  The higher the number, the better the protection.  The combination of these two numbers will give the protection level of the enclosure against dust and water.  There is an equivalence with the NEMA ratings to the IP ratings, but it is up to the preference of the user to verify the protection requirement. 

EXAIR offers three main NEMA types for our Cabinet Cooler Systems which are the most commonly found within facilities. We also offer an additional two types that are designated strictly for Hazardous Locations and are separately certified by UL to meet those standards.

NEMA 12

NEMA 12 (IP54) Cabinet Coolers are rated for dust tight and oil tight. NEMA 12 cabinet coolers are ideal for general industrial environments where no liquids or corrosives are present and are located inside.

NEMA 4

NEMA 4 (IP66) Cabinet Coolers are rated for dust tight, oil tight, splash resistant and indoor/outdoor service. These Cabinet Coolers incorporate a low-pressure relief valve to allow the internal hot air to escape as well as to close and seal when the cooler is not in operation.  This allows for this Cabinet Cooler to maintain the integrity of a NEMA 4 enclosure.

NEMA 4X

NEMA 4X (IP66) Cabinet Coolers offer the same protection as the NEMA 4 but are constructed of stainless steel for food service and corrosive environments.

HazLoc Cabinet Cooler Systems

HazLoc Cabinet Coolers are designed for hazardous locations and are mounted to NEMA 7, 8, and 9 enclosures.  EXAIR catalogs these Cabinet Coolers as NEMA 4 (IP66) or NEMA 4X (IP66) as mentioned above.  But their registration by UL classified is for Class I, Class II, and Class III hazardous areas.  The reason that they do not match the NEMA rating of the hazardous panels is because they require an X-type or Z-type purge system.  In combination, they will not sacrifice the integrity of hazardous electrical panels. 

EXAIR has Cabinet Coolers in stock with a variety of cooling capacities from 275 BTU/hr to 5,600 BTU/hr (69 Kcal/hr to 1,411 Kcal/hr).  We also offer them in 316SS, high temperature versions, and non-hazardous purge.  We do have a Cabinet Cooler System Calculator to help determine the best product for your application.  If you have any additional questions, an Application Engineer at EXAIR can assist you.   

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler Systems “Make Things Better”

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

In a previous arc in my career path, I worked on, and then built, and then sold industrial pumps, so I’ve been in my fair share of chemical plants. Did you ever wonder what all these places make? A decent number of them make what are called “intermediates”. These are compounds, solutions, & substances that aren’t found in stores, but go into almost all of the goods that ARE found in stores. One such company used to make commercials that explained it nicely:

I recently had the pleasure of assisting a caller from a company like this, who wanted to install three of our Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler Systems in their facility. This particular company doesn’t make anything shown in the commercial above; they make intermediates for agricultural use (to paraphrase the commercial, “they don’t make fertilizer; they make fertilizer better”). As is the case in MANY chemical plants, a good portion of their real estate is classified as hazardous area (as defined by regulatory oversight agencies) AND subject to exposure to some fairly corrosive chemicals. Now, these places all go to great lengths to ensure safety for personnel AND equipment, through compliance AND design. So, when they needed to add durable & reliable heat protection to their electrical panels, they called EXAIR.

This was a pretty easy application, as the engineer I spoke to had gotten the internal heat loads from the equipment supplier, and already knew that 316SS construction was needed for the corrosive elements the equipment could be exposed to. The panel was in a Class I Div 2 area (flammable gasses or vapors may be present in the event of an accident or during unusual operating conditions). After calculating the external heat load, we specified a Model HZ4725SS-316 NEMA 4X (316SS Construction) Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler System, rated for 1,700 Btu/hr, and Model 902021 24VDC HazLoc Solenoid Valve. These panels came equipped with temperature monitors that they could wire our valves into, otherwise we’d have supplied Thermostat Controlled systems.

EXAIR HazLoc Cabinet Cooler Systems are rated for Class I Div 1 & 2, Class II Div 1 & 2, and Class III environments.

EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems are available, from stock, to suit most any electric/electronic panel heat protection need:

  • Cooling capacities from 275 to 5,600 Btu/hr. Call me if your heat load is outside this range…we can look at customized solutions too.
  • NEMA 12 (IP54), 4, or 4X (IP66) ratings.
  • Thermostat Control – Standard, or Electronic Temperature Control.
  • Non-Hazardous Purge for contaminant exclusion on less-than-ideally sealed enclosures.
  • High Temperature models for ambient temperatures from 125°F (52°C) to 200°F (93°C).
  • Side Mount Kits when space is limited above the panel.
  • 316SS construction for particularly aggressive environments.
  • UL Classified for hazardous locations, just like the one I wrote about above.

If you’d like to find out how easy it is to provide durable and reliable heat protection for your electrical panels, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Hazardous Location AND Overheating Electronics? We Have You Covered!

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Here in Ohio, we like to think we know a lot about the weather. Did you know there are more than 4 seasons? Heck, we have at least two Winters, and then a Pre-Summer, Spring, Summer, Heat is still coming – make it stop season, and Fall. Don’t forget the construction season where the lovely orange cones and barrels bloom on every major roadway, and then we also like to throw in brood weeks for the cicadas every now and then. Yeah, we get a full gambit of weather and the past week has brought out some heat. I know this isn’t just Ohio, we get calls from around the globe of atmospheric conditions that have caused issues within control panels. Some of these panels are in areas where the No Smoking sign is more than just a suggestion to better your health.

1 – Dust Explosion

That’s right, there are areas in manufacturing facilities that are governed by the standard due to a variety of conditions resulting in what is known as Hazardous Locations. NFPA and UL have a list of standards breaking these down into separate Classes, Divisions, and Temperature Classes. If you want all the details, the NFPA code is around 908 pages, cover to cover. The Classified UL mark shown below is one way of knowing that a product has been tested to these stringent standards and is okay to use in clearly marked environments.

UL Classified Markings

EXAIR offers Cabinet Cooler Systems that will meet these stringent standards and keep your enclosures cool in order to keep your production up and running. The top three tiers that we meet are:

  • Class I Div 1, Groups A, B, C and D
  • Class II Div 1, Groups E, F and G
  • Class III

The HazLoc Cabinet Cooler Systems are available in 8 different cooling capacities from 1,000 Btu/hr to 5,600 Btu/hr. and are manufactured to work in conjunction with a purged and pressurized control system. As well as with or without thermostatic control.

EXAIR’s Hazarous Location Cabinet Cooler Systems maintain Type NEMA 4/4X Integrity and are CE Compliant.

If you would like help sizing the correct system for your electrical panels, feel free to use the link, or contact an Application Engineer to discuss the applications and get one sized while on the phone with us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

1 – Dust explosion 05.jpg, Hans-Peter Scholz, October 7, 2009, retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dust_explosion_05.jpg

What Are NEMA Types And Why Do They Matter for Your Enclosure?

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

NEMA Type 4X Dual Cabinet Cooler System in 316 Stainless Steel

Electrical enclosures and control cabinets come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They all have the same job, to protect and house critical electronics in order to ensure a machine or piece of equipment can safely operate.  These electronics and enclosures are also located in a variety of environments that differ just as much as the panels themselves.  With that, different requirements and needs to protect the internal components of the cabinet are needed.  A systematic approach to designate the requirements for these panels to meet the needs of different environments was designated by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.  Thus, the NEMA rating was created.

Currently, there are nearly 20 different NEMA classifications that enclosures can be designed for and operate within. EXAIR offers three main NEMA types which are the most commonly found within industrial facilities as well as an additional two that are designated strictly for Hazardous Locations and are separately certified by UL to meet those standards.

NEMA Type 12 Cabinet Cooler System protects an HMI on a machine tool.

NEMA Type 12 enclosures are constructed mainly to be used indoors and to protect personnel in the area from any hazardous equipment such as electrical contacts or transformers. This also helps to protect those electronics from things like foreign matter in the air around the panel and keep any kind of drips of moisture from getting into the electronics. These are found in most general light assembly or industrial environments.

EXAIR NEMA Type 4 Cabinet Cooler System protects against direct water.

NEMA Type 4 enclosures are a few steps up from NEMA Type 12 in the level of protection they give the internal electronics. These are suitable for indoor or outdoor use to protect both personnel and the internal cabinet components from the environment.  They are dust and airtight as well as protect from the ingress of water and ice. These can be found in washdown environments, hot environments, or extremely dirty environments throughout industry.

EXAIR NEMA 4X Cabinet Cooler Systems are made of corrosion-resistant stainless steel for corrosive environments and are also available with Side Mount Kits.

NEMA Type 4X enclosures are similar to NEMA Type 4 as far as that they protect for and the environments they are suited for, the standard also adds a level of corrosion resistance to the panels which permit them for use around certain chemicals and/or outdoors in certain facility environments.

Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler Systems

The last type to be discussed is the Hazardous Locations that are offered in both NEMA Type 4 and NEMA Type 4X ratings.  These environments are under strict classifications and EXAIR follows the UL Classified certifications for these restricted areas.

If the panel or environment within a given facility is in a different NEMA type than the ones mentioned above it can often be remedied by going to the next highest level.  For instance, NEMA Type 5 rated enclosures could be protected by a NEMA Type 4 and still maintain their integrity.

If you would like to discuss NEMA ratings or what type of panel may be within your facility, please contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF