Grounding and bonding

From the October, 2013 Issue of Cabling Installation & Maintenance Magazine

Offered in custom lengths and multiple lug options, each PDU Cables Surg-Guard Ground Bonding Kit includes anti-oxidant and mounting screws, which the company says make grounding racks and cabinets fast and easy. The kits protect data centers by grounding racks and cabinets, disallowing transient voltage and electrical surges to damage critical equipment.

"The goal of a grounding system within a data center is to equalize electrical potentials and to create a low-impedance path to ground to help prevent transient voltage from damaging sensitive electrical equipment," PDU Cables explains. "While minimum ground requirements are designed for personnel safety and fire-prevention purposes, data center downtime and damage to equipment as a result of inadequate grounding can cost an organization millions of dollars. Proper grounding is the most important factor in reliable network equipment performance."

PDU Cables
www.pducables.com

:: Standard and addendum

The ANSI/TIA-607-B Generic Telecommunications Bonding and Grounding (Earthing) for Customer Premises standard specifies grounding procedures from the entrance facility to equipment racks. Previous 607 standards did not cover areas from the telecommunications room to the racks. It was published in 2011.

The first addendum to this standard, ANSI/TIA-607-B-1, covers external grounding. It was published in January 2013, and provides design and testing requirements for a telecommunications grounding electrode system. These and other TIA standards are available at global.ihs.com.

Telecommunications Industry Association
www.tiaonline.org

The Universal Pedestal Clamp from ERICO allows for fast, simple and economical field construction of mesh bonding network and cable-management systems in data centers and computer rooms, the company says. In addition to multiple cross-wire bonding connections, each connector will accommodate additional pigtails that can be used to connect to building steel and equipment.

Additional features of the clamp include: a single attachment is required for both mesh bonding and cable management; it eliminates the need for separate mounting brackets for different pedestal types or sizes; stainless steel construction of bracket and hardware reduces potential for galvanic corrosion; mesh bonding conductors do not have to be bent around each pedestal to conform to grid pattern; it provides attachment points for Caddy brand Cat links J-hooks; compliance with NEC Articles 250 and 300; UL listing as a grounding/bonding clamp in addition to a cable support.

ERICO
www.erico.com