General > General Technical Chat
MOV fire risk
CosteC:
--- Quote from: coppercone2 on December 19, 2023, 08:43:02 pm ---well it seems that I read about more MOV and RIFA explosions from europe. I don't think the US power grid is that bad of an idea. Split phase reserved for crazy devices that belong in the garage.
You pay a bit extra in copper weight but in general the failures are less spectacular.
and I noticed way more brown outs / surges in europe then in the USA. They have less local transformer in europe and there is more line effects that damage devices.
and its nice to be able to service most domestic things with a much less hazardous voltage.
--- End quote ---
230 V is more deadly when touched - true. RCDs however reduce this risk significantly.
120 V causes significantly more fires, this is hard to solve "electronically" and easier kills entire family. Power distribution network also is significantly more tricky and 11 kV is omni-present in suburban areas. European 15-20 kV is less exposed.
I however does not know any comprehensive statistics. Planet opts for 230 V rather than 110 V however. Possibly only due to reason of 3 phase 230V being more efficient.
Getting back to MOV issue, today I think USA standardisation is ahead in this matter with more restricted demand to protect against MOV overheating and fire. Still problem remains in good testing of product. Cheap imports are cheap imports with questionable design quality.
coppercone2:
where is this risk of fires increased with 120V ?? who made these stats.
coppice:
--- Quote from: coppercone2 on December 19, 2023, 09:33:57 pm ---where is this risk of fires increased with 120V ?? who made these stats.
--- End quote ---
Arc fault fires seem to be a much bigger issue in the US than in Europe. I don't know is that relates to the tradeoff between voltage and current, or if US fittings are generally worse than European ones.
Gyro:
That's probably the wirenuts and other crappy wiring practices, weak socket contacts etc. Not to mention all the general stuff pulling twice the current.
SiliconWizard:
Yes, twice the current is like not negligible.
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