FOREWORD

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International Standard IEC 61643-11 has been prepared by subcommittee 37A: Low-voltage surges protective devices, of IEC technical committee 37: Surge arresters.

This first edition of IEC 61643-11 cancels and replaces the second edition of IEC 61643-1 published in 2005. This edition constitutes a technical revision.

The main changes with respect of the second edition of IEC 61643-1 are the complete restructuring and improvement of the test procedures and test sequences.

The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS: 37A/229/FDIS
Report on voting: 37A/232/RVD

Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on voting indicated in the above table.

This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

A list of all parts of the IEC 61643 series can be found, under the general title Low-voltage surge protective devices, on the IEC website.

The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under “http://webstore.iec.ch” in the data related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be

  • reconfirmed,
  • withdrawn,
  • replaced by a revised edition, or
  • amended.

NOTE The attention of National Committees is drawn to the fact that equipment manufacturers and testing organizations may need a transitional period following publication of a new, amended or revised IEC publication in which to make products in accordance with the new requirements and to equip themselves for conducting new or revised tests.

It is the recommendation of the committee that the content of this publication be adopted for national
implementation not earlier than 12 months from the date of publication.

INTRODUCTION

This part of IEC 61643 addresses safety and performance tests for surge protective devices (SPDs).

There are three classes of tests:
The Class I test is intended to simulate partial conducted lightning current impulses. SPDs subjected to Class I test methods are generally recommended for locations at points of high exposure, e.g., line entrances to buildings protected by lightning protection systems.

SPDs tested to Class II or III test methods are subjected to impulses of shorter duration.

SPDs are tested on a “black box” basis as far as possible.

IEC 61643-12 addresses the selection and application principles of SPDs in practical situations.

IEC 61643-11-2011 Low-voltage Requirements and test methods