Safety & Isolation in HV Power Supplies
Reliable Disconnect Solutions for Testing Systems up to 20kV.
The Critical Need for Isolation Barriers
To ensure personal safety, high voltage electronic equipment—including distribution units, test fixtures, and probes—must have a high isolation barrier to isolate dangerous voltages from all exposed metal surfaces.
Safety standards dictate that in the event of a malfunction, the high voltage must be immediately disconnected and the circuit grounded. This “Disconnect and Ground” fail-safe mechanism is critical to prevent injury and equipment damage.
Safety Switching Logic
Under fault conditions, the relay system typically performs two simultaneous actions:
- Disconnect: One set of contacts (Form A or Form B) opens the high voltage circuit.
- Ground: Another set of contacts closes to discharge residual energy to the ground.
Why Use Tungsten Reed Relays?
High voltage dry reed relays with hermetically sealed tungsten contacts are the optimal solution for this type of application.
1. Speed & Reliability
When a fault occurs, speed is safety. Our reed relays feature a switching time of less than 6 milliseconds (typically 3ms operate / 1.5ms release), ensuring an instant response to control signals to cut off high voltage.
2. High Isolation Characteristics
Encapsulated with high-grade epoxy resin, our relays achieve an insulation resistance of 1012 Ω and a leakage distance (creepage) of more than 32mm. This prevents arc-over even in humid or conductive environments.
3. Tungsten Contacts
High voltage switching often generates arcing. Tungsten has an extremely high melting point, allowing it to withstand the heat of arcing without welding shut—a common failure mode in standard copper or silver alloy relays.
MiRelay Product Solution
The HVR Series is specifically designed for these safety-critical applications.
HVR Series (4kV – 20kV)
High Voltage Dry Reed Relay with Tungsten Contacts.
- Isolation: 4kV / 6kV / 10kV / 15kV / 20kV
- Switching Voltage: Up to 10,000 VDC
- Switching Current: 3A (Max)
- Pulse Current: 5A / 10A / 20A
- Insulation Res: > 10 Tera-Ohms
- Forms: 1A, 1B, 2A, 1C
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