
6. 3 Remot e Ground
When Surge/ Lightning Arrester is NOT Used: If user has concluded t hat a surge
arrest er is not needed for t he inst allat ion, t hen the dedicat ed cable pairs are
normally connect ed in an insulat ed splice case or t erminal box t o t he card shelf
cable st ub. Pair 25 (viol et / slat e) should be connect ed t o t erminals 35 and 36 of
t erminal block RM2 t o provide a means to access cent ral of fice ground if required f or
cert ain circuit applicat ions.
When Surge/ Lightning Arrester is Used: Following t he recommended prot ect ion
pract ice of IEEE St andard 487-1992, remot e ground out side t he GPR zone of
influence (300 volt GPR locat ion) is accessible via a 5 kV spark gap l ocat ed in t he
light ning surge arrest er housing ext ernal t o t he card shelf .
One of t he 5 kV spark gap t erminals is physically connect ed to t he remot e ground
end (line t erminal end of t he power t ype surge arrest er as opposed t o it s ground
t erminal end) of t he surge arrest er used f or t he 65 kV rat ed BIL syst em. The ot her
spark gap t erminal connect s t o t he card shel f “ remot e ground” designat ed on card
shel f backplane t erminat ions via t he st ub cabl e shiel d (equipped wit h a “ bul lit bond”
or bonding clamps). The card shel f t erminat ion for t he st ub cable shield is t he
RM2-35 and RM2-36 t erminal posit ions on t he middle (RM2) connector block.
The above inst allat ion scheme provides f or coordinat ed 65 kV BIL prot ect ion of
bot h t he isol at ion equipment (shel f and cards) and t he dedicat ed ent rance cable.
The 5 kV gap coordinat es drainage of surge volt age dif ference bet ween t he
dedicat ed cable pairs and t he shield should t he power t ype surge arrest er operat e
and equalize ground pot ent ial diff erence bet ween st at ion ground and remot e ground
via t he cable shield.
The isol at ion syst em is designed around t he prot ect ion pract ice of IEEE St andard
487-1992, and it is recommended t hat t his configurat ion be used in any applicat ion
environment where surges are possible. The 65 kV BIL of t he isolat ion syst em is
assured and t he dedicat ed cabl e receives similar BIL prot ect ion and insulat ion
prot ect ion coordinat ion bet ween shield and cable conduct ors.
Note: In some applicat ions “ remot e ground” is direct ly needed f or a circuit
funct ion such as for PBX ground st art t runks (a l ess desirabl e t runk seizure
conf igurat ion t hat is more prone to possible t ransient vol t age and circuit noise
problems t han a loop st art t runk). When a direct “ remot e ground” connect ion is
required, a prot ect ion syst em appl icat ion ut ilizing t he 5 kV spark gap must have t he
gap bypassed by t he Violet / Slat e 25t h pair t o get cent ral of fice ground direct ly
accessible t o t he PBX card. This ef fect ively disabl es t he 5kV gap.
6. 4 Circuit s Requiring 2 or 3 Isolat ion Cards
CENTER TAP (CTE) CONNECTIONS
To permit DC simplex sealing loop current t o f low bet ween t wo 2-wire isolat ion
cards, all odd numbered slot s have CTE connect ions t hrough t he remot e backpl ane.
J1 is connect ed t o J3, J5 t o J7, and J9 to J11. Use t hese combinat ions when using
2-wire isolat ion cards.
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