Luminaire system design
System design requirements
Hazardous area light fixtures must meet specific safety standards, but these standards don’t address luminaire performance and reliability. If your lights fail, workplace safety is compromised and maintenance costs rise significantly.
The following environmental challenges, and our corresponding system design methodology, demonstrate our commitment to delivering LED solutions that perform both safely and reliably for decades in the toughest operating conditions.
Key factors to consider
Thermal management | Corrosion resistance | Reliability in extreme temperatures | Temperature ratings | Environmental ratings | Vibration and impact resistance | Surge suppression
Effective heat dissipation / thermal management
A common misconception when considering fixture life is only accounting for the LED components. More often than not, the point of failure in an LED luminaire is the driver, and system construction along with ambient temperature figure heavily into driver lifetime.
LED luminaires operate much cooler than traditional lighting, but managing heat remains a major factor in maximizing lifetime. To ensure long life, LED luminaires should be constructed with robust and durable heat sinks that allow effective heat transfer from the LEDs to the ambient environment. Heat sinking, often designed as fins, allows for adequate air flow and increases the surface area for heat dissipation.
Effective thermal management will extend luminaire life, lower both lumen depreciation and color shift of the LEDs over time, and help obtain lower T-codes for luminaires used in explosive environments.
Our LED luminaires can take the heat
Crouse-Hinds series harsh and hazardous area LED fixtures are designed with high quality, die cast aluminum housings that provide an optimal thermal path to the heat sink assembly.
- Robust heat fins
- Ensures proper air flow
- Facilitates dust shedding
We also isolate the driver from the primary heat source (LED engine) in all our LED luminaires.
- Helps improve heat dissipation
- Helps reduce junction temperature
Our optimized thermal design, coupled with the rated life of our LED and drivers, means that the economic life of Crouse-Hinds series LED luminaires can be up to 170,000 hours at ambient temperatures between 25ºC and 55ºC.
Our design philosophy does not rely on thermal compensation to reach the product temperature ratings. This means you won’t have to lower the luminaire’s light levels to operate safely in applications with extremely high temperatures.
Superior corrosion resistance
Corrosion control can mean the difference between a trouble-free lighting installation and costly equipment failure. While corrosion in industrial environments is inevitable, all Crouse-Hinds series LED fixtures are manufactured using materials and finishes that provide the most efficient combination of strength and resistance to corrosive agents like water, acids, alkalies, salts and gases. Our decades of experience in corrosion control can help you reduce costly repairs and safety issues due to loss of light.
| Crouse-Hinds series LED housing materials | |
|---|---|
| Copper-free aluminum: | Fiberglass-reinforced polyester: |
| Copper-free aluminum provides optimum protection against galvanic corrosion and is particularly resistant to salt atmospheres, sulfur gases and ammonium nitrate. Our copper-free aluminum alloy contains a maximum of 4/10 of 1% copper. Above this level, the rate of corrosion due to galvanic action within the structure of the metal increases rapidly. | Available in our LED linear portfolio, our proprietary formulation of fiberglass-reinforced polyester is designed for use in the harshest corrosive environments. Our GRP material is corrosion and heat resistant, fire retardant and withstands weathering over extended periods of time. |
| Crouse-Hinds series LED material finishes | |
| Corro-free™ epoxy powder coat: Crouse-Hinds series copper-free aluminum LED luminaires are all available with our Corro-free epoxy powder coat finish. The finish is applied electrostatically, resulting in a uniform coating that reduces galvanic action and provides superior adhesion over typical enamel, lacquer, aluminum paint or epoxy paint. |
|
Don’t forget about the screws and gaskets! All Crouse-Hinds series LED luminaires feature stainless steel hardware and silicone gaskets, which deliver excellent corrosion resistance to most chemicals and vapors.
This helps reduce potential hassles and labor delays that can be caused by corroding steel hardware when accessing luminaires for routine maintenance or inspection.
Reliability in extreme ambient temperatures
The ambient temperature of your application is another important factor to consider when selecting luminaires for harsh and hazardous areas. Extreme high or low temperatures can heavily impact the lifetime of a light fixture if it is not properly designed and tested for such conditions.
Verify that the luminaire’s certified operating temperature range aligns with the maximum or minimum ambient temperature experienced in your application.
Crouse-Hinds series lighting portfolio
Our entire portfolio of Crouse-Hinds series LED luminaires is tested and certified for use in both high and low ambient temperatures. Many of our LED families are rated to +65ºC for extreme heat applications. So no matter where your lighting application is located, we have an LED solution that will perform safely and reliably for years.
Temperature Ratings
When designing or specifying luminaires for hazardous areas, you must take into consideration the ignitable properties of the specific explosive hazard that will be present. The operating temperature of the luminaire must not exceed the ignition temperature of the gas, vapor, or dust encountered.
The National Electrical Code® requires that all heat producing equipment used in classified areas be marked to indicate its operating temperature or temperature range during use, identified by a “T-rating” number*. Products often have T-ratings for multiple ambient temperatures, as well as for the “simultaneous presence” of different hazards.
If the T-rating for your selected light fixture (at the applicable ambient temperature) is lower than the ignition temperature of the identified hazard, then the fixture is thermally suitable for that classified area.
Our Crouse-Hinds series LED portfolio delivers industry-leading T-codes. The cooler operating temperatures ensure safe, reliable operation in hazardous areas, including locations where ambient temperatures exceed 40ºC. These applications may include indoor areas with high ambient temperatures, and outdoor areas with high atmospheric temperatures and direct sunlight.
Temperature classification according to NEC/CEC
| Maximum temperature | Temperature class (T-code) | ||
| ºC | ºF | Division | Zone |
| 450 | 842 | T1 | T1 |
| 300 | 572 | T2 | T2 |
| 280 | 536 | T2A | |
| 260 | 500 | T2B | |
| 230 | 446 | T2C | |
| 215 | 419 | T2D | |
| 200 | 392 | T3 | T3 |
| 180 | 356 | T3A | |
| 165 | 329 | T3B | |
| 160 | 320 | T3C | |
| 135 | 275 | T4 | T4 |
| 120 | 248 | T4A | |
| 100 | 212 | T5 | T5 |
| 85 | 185 | T6 | T6 |
| * Exceptions for when temperature ratings are not required to be marked can be found in NEC 501.130(B)(1) and NEC 502.130(B)(2). | |||
Protection against water & dust ingress (Environmental ratings)
Lighting installations in harsh and hazardous areas commonly encounter windblown dust, rain, splashing water, and even hose-directed water during washdowns. It’s critical that the luminaires you select be designed and certified to keep water, dust and debris from entering the housing or lens and causing costly damage. A luminaire’s gaskets play a key role here.
The following two widely-used standards have been developed and adopted to specify an enclosure’s degree of protection against water and dust ingress.
IEC Ingress Protection (IP) Ratings
| First number | Second number | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree of protection against solid objects | Degree of protection against liquids | ||
| 0 | No protection | 0 | No protection |
| 1 | Objects equal to or greater than 50mm | 1 | Vertically dripping water |
| 2 | Objects equal to or greater than 12mm | 2 | Dripping water when titled up to 15º |
| 3 | Objects equal to or greater than 2.5mm | 3 | Spraying water |
| 4 | Objects equal to or greater than 1.0mm | 4 | Splashing water |
| 5 | Dust protected | 5 | Water jets (6.3mm nozzle) |
| 6 | Dust tight. No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact | 6 | Heavy seas or powerful jets of water (12.5mm nozzle) |
| 7 | Immersion in water up to 1m for 30 min | ||
| 8 | Prolonged or indefinite immersion | ||
| 9K | Close-range high pressure, high temperature spray downs | ||
NEMA Enclosure Type Ratings common to industrial luminaires
| Type | Fixture use | IP Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| NEMA 3 | Outdoor – rain, sleet, windblown dust, external formation of ice | IP54 |
| NEMA 4 | Indoor/outdoor – windblown dust and rain, splashing water, hose directed water, external formation of ice | IP66 |
| NEMA 4X | Indoor/outdoor – windblown dust and rain, splashing water, hose directed water, external formation of ice, corrosion | IP66 |
| NEMA 12 | Indoor – circulating dusts, falling dirt, dripping oil, non-corrosive liquids | IP52 |
IP66 and NEMA 4X standard on Crouse-Hinds series LED luminaires!
How do we do it? All our gaskets are selected based on a chemical compatibility test with the relevant LED family. Our LED fixtures are then subjected to marine hose testing, which goes above and beyond standard IP testing. Gaskets used in luminaires certified for Class II, Division 1 locations undergo testing in accelerated aging conditions. And we seal our wire entries in the LED cavity to provide an additional layer of protection against humidity buildup in the conduit systems.
Additionally, many of our LED luminaires are engineered with special features designed to help specifically with water and dust shedding, such as angled housings and cone pendant mounting modules.
Vibration and Impact Resistance
Exposure to constant vibration, or unintentional impact or shock, could lead to premature failure if a luminaire is not properly designed and tested for these scenarios. At a minimum, light fixtures for use in harsh and hazardous areas should be tested and certified to UL 844, which includes a 35-hour vibration test at 2,000 cycles per minute.
Eaton’s Crouse-Hinds Division exceeds UL 844 single-axis vibration standards by subjecting all our LED luminaires to an additional 6-hour, 3-axis vibration test at an acceleration of a least 1G.
To test luminaire durability against impact, we drop a 1kg weight onto the lens from 40cm (~15”), and verify that the lens shows no signs of damage.
With testing procedures that surpass industry standards, you can rest assured that Crouse-Hinds series LED luminaires will provide industry-best reliability no matter the operating environment.
LED Lighting Design and Specification Guide
This LED Lighting Design and Specification Guide details key factors to consider when selecting a manufacturer for industrial lighting, and demonstrates how Eaton’s Crouse-Hinds series LED solutions are built to withstand the toughest conditions, deliver maximum lighting performance and safety, and reduce expensive maintenance costs.
LED System Design Resources
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