Datasheet

193
UTS Series
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Technical Information
On a daily basis, we are using many electrical appliances, some are grounded, and some are not. The levels of grounding protection are clearly
dened by the International Electrotechnical Commission standard IEC 61140, a standard that has an inuence on our connectors and how
they should be used; our customers therefore need to pay particular attention to the three categories dened within this standard to ensure
compatibility with their system. Everything explained hereafter is valid for connectors not intended to interrupt current.
ClassI:
Devices which belong to this category have their chassis grounded via the ground wire (green/yellow in Europe, green in the US, Canada and
Japan). A fault in the appliance might cause a live conductor to energize the casing. In this case, the current ows to the ground conductor and
the circuit interrupter will cut off the power supply. In case of the UTS series, it means the envelope (coupling ring, backshell and housing) may
become live, therefore, care needs to be taken to attach the connector to the ground. This is usually done via the ground conductor using a splice
between the ground contact and the housing.
ClassII:
Products in this category have reinforced insulation, meaning that the casing does not need to be connected to ground. In this case, the possibility
of electric shock has been removed. Most of the time, reinforced insulation means double insulation, i.e. the second layer will take over the rst
one in case the rst one fails. The UTS series is not designed to comply with this standard, so we cannot recommend it for this product category.
Note: UL 1310 also denes a class II device, but in that case this is just to set the upper limit of use, like a wall charger for our cell phone.
ClassIII:
In this category, electrical appliances are fed by a low voltage source (<48VAC or < 120VDC). In normal conditions live conductors can be
accessible without any risk for the end user. No particular attention needs to be taken in regards to UTS series when it comes to a class III device.
Conclusion:
UTS series can be used in class I and class III environments, but each category affects the product performance. Throughout the catalog, current
and voltage ratings have been given for class I devices keeping in mind the ground conductor needs to be attached according to recommended
wiring instructions.
Note: Special applications like recreational vehicles are not under the scope of the IEC 61140.
IEC 61140
IEC 61140 Explained
Technical Information