PULLMAN, WA — Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. (SEL) today announced that it is now taking orders for the new SEL-849 Motor Management Relay. This highly anticipated relay significantly increases protection for equipment and personnel in low- and medium-voltage motor control centers (MCCs) by using standard motor thermal management, overcurrent protection, and integrated arc-flash detection.

“Our designers worked diligently to make the SEL-849 incredibly easy to configure,” said SEL Vice President of Research and Development David Whitehead. “We developed a secure web server along with motor nameplate settings where an electrician can configure this relay in minutes by inputting three simple settings. User-centered features, such as a web interface, dual Ethernet, waveform capture, integrated current transformers, and programmable logic, put the SEL-849 in a class of its own.”

“Arc-flash detection can significantly reduce an operator’s exposure in the event of a flashover inside an MCC,” said SEL Sales and Customer Service Business Director Erik Newman, “so we decided to make arc-flash detection a standard no-charge feature in the SEL-849. In protection, the safety of operators and electricians is our priority, and we want everyone to benefit from this technology.”

With shipments of the SEL-849 starting in April 2013, SEL already has more than 100 customers in line to evaluate how they can increase the reliability and safety of their operations. Customers can order evaluation units by contacting their local SEL sales representative and can obtain more information on the SEL-849 Relay’s benefits and applications by visiting www.selinc.com/p165.