Copyright ©2001 Rice Lake Weighing Systems.All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America. Specifications subject to change without notice.
September 2001
Contents
1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................... 1
2.0 Connections .......................................................................................................... 1
3.0 Specifications ....................................................................................................... 2
1.0 Introduction
The TP232 is designed to help protect against low voltage lightning strikes, power
surges, and other types of voltage disturbances. Five RS-232 signals on terminal blocks
are supported with a clamping voltage of approximately 15 volts, The TP232 offers three
stages of protection starting with a gas discharge tube followed by a series resistor and
finally a Transient Voltage Suppresser (TVS).
In order for a surge protector to work properly, it is important to have a good con-
nection to earth ground. The TP232 offers two terminal posts and two metal mounting
brackets which provide a good ground connection for the user. The unit has been tested
to two specifications at 6 kilovolts, IEC 1000-4-5: 1995 “Surge Immunity Test”and
IEEE C62.41-1991 “IEEE Recommended Practice on Surge Voltages in Low-Voltage
AC Power Circuits.”To ensure the best protection of your equipment some simple con-
nection guidelines should be followed.
Authorized distributors and their employees can view or download this manual
from the Rice Lake Weighing Systems distributor site at
www.rlws.com
2.0 Connections
The following connections should be made when installing the TP232 surge protector:
•The unit should be located as close as possible to the equipment being protected.
•A good ground connection must be made between the TP232 and earth ground.
This can be done with the two terminal posts on the top of the unit or the two
mounting brackets.
•The earth ground connection should be kept as short as possible for best
performance. As as recommendation a minimum of 10 gauge copper wire at no
more than three feet should be used (see Figure 2-1). If it is not possible to
achieve the short distance a braided cable made specifically for grounding purposes
should be used.
•The chassis
ground of the
equipment
should be
connected to
the buildings
three prong
plug ground.
1
10 gauge copper wire at 3 feet
long or braided cable made
specifically for grounding
purposes.
Earth green wire ground
Protected equipment
Equipment side
Line side
TX
REC
RTS
CTS
Signal ground
TX
REC
RTS
CTS
Signal ground
Figure 2-1:Wiring Diagram
