Protective Accessories Overview
MEAN WELL offers critical protective accessories designed to ensure the longevity and stability of LED lighting systems. The SPD (Surge Protective Device) series protects your installation from lightning strikes and grid voltage spikes, while the ICL (Inrush Current Limiter) series prevents nuisance circuit breaker tripping caused by high startup currents.
- Reliability: Both lines are engineered for harsh industrial environments, ensuring your lighting system remains operational despite grid instabilities.
- Easy Integration: Designed for seamless installation into existing lighting control cabinets, junction boxes, or onto DIN rails.
- Safety Compliance: Built to meet international safety and surge protection standards (e.g., UL1449, IEC61643-11).
SPD Series (Surge Protective Devices)
Surge protection is essential for outdoor and industrial lighting where voltage spikes (from lightning or grid switching) can destroy sensitive LED drivers.
- Type 2 Surge Protection: Designed to divert high energy surges to ground, protecting the downstream LED drivers.
- Parallel Protection (3-Wire): Uses a parallel connection scheme, ensuring that if the surge protector fails, the lighting system continues to operate (rather than opening the circuit).
- Indicator Light: Most models feature an LED status indicator to show if the device is functioning or has reached its end of life.
- Environmental Protection: IP67-rated enclosures allow for indoor or outdoor installation.
| Series | Surge Capacity | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| SPD-10S | 10kA | Compact size, suitable for small to mid-sized lighting poles. |
| SPD-20 | 20kA | Standard high-capacity protection for general outdoor lighting. |
| SPD-20HP | 20kA (High Performance) | Enhanced protection for sensitive or high-value infrastructure. |
ICL Series (Inrush Current Limiters)
When multiple LED power supplies are turned on simultaneously, they can generate a massive inrush current, causing circuit breakers to trip unnecessarily. The ICL series mitigates this.
- Limiting Surge Current: Effectively limits the high startup current (inrush) drawn by capacitive loads like LED power supplies.
- Internal Relay Bypass: Uses an internal relay to bypass the current-limiting resistor after startup, ensuring very low power loss during normal operation.
- Mounting Versatility: Available in DIN-rail (R-type) for control cabinets or Lead-wire (L-type) for inline installation.
| Model | Continuous Current | Mounting |
|---|---|---|
| ICL-16R / 16L | 16A | DIN-Rail / Lead-wire |
| ICL-28R / 28L | 28A | DIN-Rail / Lead-wire |
Selection Guide & Usage
When to use SPD: Recommended for all outdoor installations, especially street lighting, high-mast, and floodlights where proximity to potential lightning paths is high.
When to use ICL: Recommended whenever you have multiple high-wattage power supplies connected to the same circuit breaker. Use the ICL to allow a higher density of power supplies per breaker, saving on wiring and panel costs.
| Scenario | Recommended Accessory |
|---|---|
| Outdoor street lamp | SPD-20 / SPD-20HP |
| Factory control panel with 10+ LED drivers | ICL-28R (DIN-Rail) |
| In-fixture surge protection | SPD-10S |
