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Power Electronics Laboratory

Safety Precautious
Safety First: Execution of Lab work in a safe manner is even more important than performing accurate
electronic measurements and construction neat circuits. The rst step is always to become familiar with
the Lab itself. You should know where the re extinguishers and the emergency exits are located. Equally
as important is the location of nearest phone to call for help. You should also know all equipments and
substances that are used in the Lab to take the necessary precautions.

General Rules
Safe practices and procedures are of utmost importance in this course. Students are required to read,
acknowledge and at all times obey by all safety procedures within the lab.
Keep work areas clean and neat. Components and leads must be placed at their appropriate places
once used.
No food or drinks allowed in the lab.
Listening devices are prohibited i.e. no hand phones, walkmans (Walkman?), iPods, etc.
Preparation for the lab is important in order to know what is expected out of you during the lab.
Attached you will nd a listing of minimum safety practices which must be practiced in the lab at
all times. These are also basic safety practice requirements. Additional instructions and information
will be necessary from time to time.
Read the attached safety guideline.
Your cooperation and attention to these safety procedures are expected and appreciated.
The precautions are for your protection and that of others.

Safety Tips for Power Electronics/Machines Laboratory

1. Do not energize a circuit before it is checked by the instructor.
2. Never handle live circuits.
3. If anything in a circuit has to be changed, switch o the power supply rst.
4. Do not touch any insulated part of an energized circuit, unless it is absolutely necessary.
5. Always make connections from the load toward the source of power. Connect the power source last.
6. Disconnect the source of power rst.
7. Always used the bench supply with installed circuit breakers, never use the power line as a supply.

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8. Check current connections to make certain they are tight. Loose connections can be dangerous as
well as giving erroneous experimental results.
9. Never open a life circuit.
10. Never open the secondary of a transformer if the primary is energized.
11. Disconnect the clip end of the potential leads when changing meter function.
12. Set rheostats for minimum current (i.e., maximum resistance) before energizing the circuit (Except
when it is stated oppositely in the procedure).
13. Always set variable voltage supply to minimum output voltage before switching them on.
14. Do not allow leads to lie on the ground.
15. Do not allow leads to touch rotating parts.
16. Keep neckties, loose clothing, etc., away from rotating parts.
17. Make sure that couplings are always covered by their special coupling guards.
18. Assume that capacitors are charged. Discharge them through a resistance before removal from storage
and before disconnecting from a circuit.
19. The green and yellow lead is the ground lead. Use them to connect the ground of the machines and
dierent components in your test set to the main ground point on the bench. Never use these leads
for live connections.

Safety Rules and Suggestions

Freedom from preventable accidents is an important measure of the foresight and capability of supervision
in the engineering industries. The student should give thought to the subject of accident prevention early
in his or her training. He or she should prepare mentally to recognize and avoid dangerous situations, and
to cope with emergencies. A set of rules cannot be made to apply to all situations. The student should
develop the ability to analyze a particular situation. An engineers reputation for reliability is seriously
injured if his lack of foresight results in injury to himself, associates, or equipment.
1. Haste causes many accidents. Work deliberately and carefully. Verify our work as you go along.
Good planning before coming to the laboratory will promote safety.
2. When working on live electrical apparatus, use only one hand as far as practical, keeping the other
hand disengaged from circuitry. All power circuits are dangerous. Adjustment of energized circuits
should be made with caution. Do not permit any part of your body to complete a circuit.
3. Close power switches quickly and positively. Hesitant closing may result in an electric arc. Burns
from an electric arc may be severe and slow-healing. You can depend on the circuit breakers and
fuses in the circuit to prevent over-currents.
4. Be careful to keep watch bands, rings, necklaces, and other metallic objects out of contact with live
parts when working around electrical apparatus. It is a good idea to remove watches with metal
bands while working in the laboratory.

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5. Long hair should be up when working around rotating machinery. Likewise, loose clothing, neckties,
etc. should be avoided around rotating machinery.
6. Make sure the plugs t snugly in their sockets. Sometimes they get old and worn so that they slide
out too easily. Never splice two un-isolated plugs together so that electrically hot metal is exposed
on the bench. Try to arrange your test bench in such away that you do not need too long leads. In
case that you still need longer leads use isolated-tip leads. As much as possible, use the isolated-tips
leads for power circuits, and the unisolated type for measuring voltages or signals.
7. Never connect leads so that they hang above rotating parts of equipment. Use leads long enough to
have some slack. Avoid long, unsupported spans.
8. When wiring a circuit, always connect to the source of power as the last step. When disassembling
a circuit, disconnect from the power source as the rst step.