Seaward HAL104 shines brightly at emergency lighting company

A leading manufacturer of commercial emergency lighting products has improved electrical safety test standards using the advanced HAL 104 multifunction tester from Clare.

Nu-Era Lighting Ltd, a member of the Industry Committee for Emergency Lighting (ICEL), designs and supplies a range of fluorescent and discharge lighting systems for public sector buildings, including vandal resistant, IP65 rated weatherproof, EXIT signs and emergency luminaires.

The company’s facility at Witham, Essex, has been using four HAL 104s on its two production lines to test upwards of 1,500 units manufactured each week before distribution to electrical wholesalers around the UK.

The HAL 104 performs a range of important safety tests during production, including earth bonding at 10A, DC insulation resistance at 500VDC and checking for power leakage, to ensure compliance with EN 60598 and guarantee product quality, performance and reliability.

Function testing is also undertaken as part of the test programme to check that each unit switches on/off and lights correctly at the required power consumption levels and that any ancillary equipment works in accordance with technical specifications.

This ensures Nu-Era products are safe to use after leaving the factory gate and that an accurate test record is maintained for all the units produced in the advent of any later damage during distribution or to track and trace any product returns - in line with the company’s quality assurance programme.

The digital HAL 104s, which replaced manually operated test equipment, are fast, high performance automatic instruments which record test results and ensure accurate testing is carried out in line with relevant product standards at all times.

Nu-Era Lighting is seeing strong demand for its products from customers so, in a move to further secure product quality and reliability, the company plans to introduce two HAL104s as it gears up for expansion into a new workshop unit at its Witham site.

Olly Mansell, technical manager, said: “The HAL 104 is a brilliant piece of kit, providing fast, accurate and extremely reliable testing.

“It provides us with the confidence and peace-of-mind knowing that every unit leaving the factory for the customer is 100% safe-to-use and works properly.

“And this is all supported and backed-up by a traceable test record and certificate to guarantee quality standard and reliability.”

He added that features like the barcode scanner, which improves data logging and traceability, and the ability for the test results to be networked will be particularly beneficial in future.

The HAL 104 combines the performance of a multi-function production line safety tester with load and power factor measurement for product energy consumption and ratings assessments.

The instrument meets the end of line electrical safety compliance tests required by the majority of national and international product safety standards, including EN 60335, EN 60745 and EN 60598 and others.

As well as load and power functional tests, the new tester incorporates AC/DC Hipot (flash / dielectric strength), insulation, ground/earth bond testing to programmable up to 40A, load switching to 26A with measurement to 20 milliamps and leakage to 100 microAmps.

The new tester has widespread applications in production situations where high resolution performance measurements are important and can be used as a manual stand alone tester with simple push button test activation.

Alternatively, it can be fully integrated into automated manufacturing systems with selectable sensors and enclosure interlocks, or by ultimate control using remote PCs and PLCs.

A large, clear full graphic display presents information either in a numerical or analogue format and a powerful internal memory allows the storage of up to 6,000 test results and up to 50 configurable test routines. The instrument can also be interfaced with a variety of accessories ranging from bar code scanners to pass/fail label printers.

The HAL 104 meets all of the requirements of the various British and European standards in relation to high voltage testing and incorporates fully isolated high voltage outputs to ensure the highest levels of operator safety.