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GCS Withdrawable Low Voltage Switchgear - 400V / 415V Drawout Distribution
GCS withdrawable LV switchgear 400V/415V, up to 4000A, 80kA. Drawer feeders, Form 4b separation, IEC 61439. CKD kits and drawings for local production.
- Overview
- Applications
- Technical Data
- Services
- Quality Control
- Recommended Products
GCS Withdrawable Low Voltage Switchgear - 400V / 415V Drawout Distribution
GCS is a withdrawable distribution switchboard: outgoing feeders sit in individual drawers that can be removed and replaced without shutting down the board. Rated to 4000A busbar with 80kA short-circuit withstand, verified to IEC 61439. Where GCK is optimised for motor starters, GCS is optimised for distribution feeders.
GCS OR GCK - THE PRACTICAL DIFFERENCE
Both are withdrawable and both use the same drawer platform. GCK carries a dense population of small drawers because a motor control centre has many small starters. GCS carries fewer, larger drawers and a higher busbar rating because a distribution board feeds sub-boards and large loads. Many real installations are a mixed lineup, and the two platforms sit side by side in one board.
WHAT WITHDRAWABLE BUYS YOU
Each drawer has isolating contacts on power and control circuits and three defined positions. In Test, the control circuit stays live so protection and interlock logic can be proven with the power circuit isolated - which is where commissioning and periodic testing actually happen. In Disconnect the drawer is dead and can be pulled out, with a spare inserted in minutes.
For a hospital, a data centre, a desalination plant or any process facility, that capability is the difference between a planned ten-minute intervention and an unplanned outage across the whole board.
FORM 4b SEPARATION
Each drawer, its busbar connection and its outgoing terminals are individually segregated, so a fault or operator error in one compartment cannot propagate along the lineup. This is the precondition for working on one drawer while the rest of the board stays live.
DESIGN VERIFICATION, NOT COMPONENT CERTIFICATES
IEC 61439 verifies the complete assembly. A cabinet populated with certified breakers is not a verified assembly, and on projects where a consultant actually checks, that distinction decides whether the board is accepted. We supply verification evidence for the assembly as built - temperature rise, short-circuit withstand, dielectric properties, separation and IP rating.
FOR LOCAL PRODUCTION
Supplied as complete cabinets, as a CKD kit, or as drawings plus components for production under your own brand. A South African distributor moved to CKD assembly and cut total cost 40% while shortening lead time from three months to five weeks, largely by removing sea freight on finished cabinets from the equation.
Configured to the destination voltage, with 400V 60Hz verification for Saudi Arabia.
PRIMARY APPLICATIONS
- Main and sub-main distribution in continuous-process plant where an unplanned shutdown is unacceptable.
- Desalination and water treatment plant LV distribution across Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar.
- Oil, gas and petrochemical facility LV switchboards.
- Data centre and hospital distribution, where the electrical safety case requires maintenance without load interruption.
- Cement, steel, mining and mineral processing plant distribution.
- Pharmaceutical and food processing facilities with continuous production lines.
- Airport, port and major infrastructure LV distribution.
- Power plant auxiliary and station service boards.
- Large commercial developments with critical tenant loads.
WHEN TO CHOOSE GCS OVER GGD
Specify GCS where the process cannot tolerate a board shutdown for feeder maintenance, where protection relays need periodic testing with the feeder isolated but operable, where the site is remote and spare drawers held locally are the maintenance strategy, or where the client specification requires withdrawable construction.
Specify GGD where maintenance windows are available and capital cost governs.
WHO BUYS THIS FROM US
Panel builders serving industrial and infrastructure projects, EPC contractors, and distributors who need to bid drawout-specified tenders. The CKD route is the common one - the freight and lead-time saving on locally assembled boards is what makes a local builder competitive against imported finished cabinets.
REGIONAL FIT
- Middle East: heavily specified on desalination, oil and gas and industrial projects. Saudi Arabia requires 400V 60Hz verification. Gulf switchrooms at 50-55C need temperature-rise verification above the IEC +40C reference. SASO SABER, SEC, DEWA, KAHRAMAA and Oman DCRP approvals supported.
- Africa: industrial, mining and infrastructure installations. Site remoteness makes drawer replacement the practical repair route. SONCAP and KEBS PVoC supported.
- Russia and CIS: 380V industrial distribution with genuine EAC certification under TR CU 004/2011.
- Eastern Europe: 400V, CE marked to EN 61439.
NOT SUITABLE FOR
Cost-sensitive commercial and residential work where fixed construction is adequate - specify GGD. Motor-dominated plant needing many small starters - specify GCK. Projects mandating internationally standardised module dimensions - specify MNS.
TECHNICAL DATA - GCS Withdrawable LV Switchgear
Compliance: IEC 61439-1, IEC 61439-2, GB 7251.1
Electrical Ratings
| Parameter | Specification |
| Rated operational voltage (Ue) | 400 V / 415 V AC (380 V available) |
| Rated insulation voltage (Ui) | 1000 V |
| Rated impulse withstand voltage (Uimp) | 12 kV |
| Rated frequency | 50 Hz / 60 Hz |
| Rated current, main busbar | 1000 / 1600 / 2500 / 3150 / 4000 A |
| Rated current, vertical distribution busbar | 1000 A |
| Rated short-time withstand current (Icw) | 50 / 65 / 80 kA for 1 s |
| Rated peak withstand current (Ipk) | 105 / 143 / 176 kA |
| Pollution degree | 3 |
| Overvoltage category | IV at the incomer |
Drawer System
| Item | Details |
| Drawer positions | Connect / Test / Disconnect |
| Drawer sizes | 1/2, 1, 1.5 and 2 unit |
| Drawer current rating | 63 A to 800 A |
| Isolating contacts | Silver-plated, on both power and control circuits |
| Control circuit | Remains connected in Test position |
| Interlock | Mandatory mechanical three-position interlock |
| Mechanical endurance | 100,000 cycles |
Construction
| Item | Specification |
| Frame | High-strength steel sections, modular assembly |
| Internal separation | Form 3b / Form 4b per IEC 61439-2 |
| Protection degree | IP30 standard; IP40, IP54 optional |
| Enclosure | Cold-rolled steel or aluminium-zinc plate, powder coated RAL 7035 |
| Busbar | Electrolytic copper, top-mounted, silver-plated joints, flame-retardant supports |
| Cable entry | Bottom or top entry |
| Earthing | Continuous PE bar; drawer earth contact engages before power contacts |
Dimensions & Weight
| Item | Value |
| Width | 600 / 800 / 1000 / 1200 mm |
| Depth | 600 / 800 / 1000 mm |
| Height | 2200 mm |
| Approximate weight | 400 – 900 kg per section |
Device Capacity
| Function | Configurable Devices |
| Incomer | MOW-1 air circuit breaker up to 4000 A |
| Feeders | MOM-1 moulded case circuit breakers within drawer units |
| Breaker compatibility | Also configurable with ABB, Schneider Electric and Siemens devices |
| Metering | BH-0.66 current transformers, multifunction meters |
Service Conditions
| Parameter | Specification |
| Ambient temperature | -5 °C to +40 °C per IEC; verified to +55 °C with derating |
| Relative humidity | 50% at +40 °C, up to 90% at +20 °C |
| Altitude | Up to 2000 m |
| Installation | Indoor |
OPTIONS
Form 4b internal separation | IP54 enclosure | spare drawers | tin-plated busbar | anti-condensation heater | forced ventilation for high ambient | arc fault detection | intelligent metering with Modbus | 60 Hz verification for Saudi Arabia | tropicalised coating | CKD kit for local assembly
WE SELL THE CAPABILITY, NOT JUST THE BOX
Most suppliers quote you a finished cabinet. We would rather make you the factory. Over 15 years we have equipped more than 300 partner enterprises in 72 countries to build their own low voltage switchgear locally, using our drawings, our components and our training. If you only want finished cabinets we will supply those too - but read what the alternative saves first.
1. TECHNICAL PACKAGE - GA DRAWINGS AND ENGINEERING
Complete general arrangement drawings, busbar layouts, single-line and schematic diagrams, drilling and cut-out templates, torque tables, BOM with part numbers, and assembly instructions. Drawings are issued in DWG and PDF, dimensioned in millimetres, and revised free of charge for your project variations. Your engineer works from a design that has already been verified, instead of reverse-engineering a competitor's board.
2. COMPONENT SUPPLY - CKD KIT FROM 2,000+ SELF-DEVELOPED PARTS
We manufacture over 2,000 of our own switchgear components and 38+ patents sit behind them. That matters because the parts that decide whether a cabinet passes inspection - busbar supports, insulators, drawer isolating contacts, racking mechanisms, interlocks - are not reliably available on the open market at consistent quality. You buy the kit flat-packed, add local sheet metal and labour, and the freight bill collapses. A South African distributor cut total cost by 40% doing exactly this; logistics alone had been eating 25% of their landed cost.
3. LEAD TIME
Building locally from a kit removes the ocean freight leg from your delivery promise. The same South African partner went from a 3-month lead time to 5 weeks. In markets where the contractor pays liquidated damages for late energisation, that is often worth more than the price difference.
4. TRAINING AND ASSEMBLY SUPPORT
On-site or online training for your assembly team: frame build, busbar bracing and torquing, drawer alignment, Form separation, wiring discipline, routine testing. We also run remote support during your first production batches. An Indonesian client used this route to enter the high-end panel market within 4 months and lifted margin by 35%.
5. OEM AND ODM - YOUR BRAND ON THE DOOR
Nameplate, colour, layout, packaging and documentation to your brand. Non-disclosure agreements and territory protection for distributors who are developing a market. You sell as a manufacturer, not as a re-seller.
6. CERTIFICATION AND SUBMITTAL SUPPORT
Design verification evidence to IEC 61439-1 and IEC 61439-2, type-test reports, material certificates and QC records for your tender submittals. Country routes supported: EAC under TR CU 004/2011 and TR CU 020/2011 for the EAEU, CE under LVD 2014/35/EU and EMC 2014/30/EU to EN 61439 for the EU, SASO SABER PCoC plus per-shipment SCoC for Saudi Arabia, SONCAP for Nigeria under HS 8536, KEBS PVoC Routes A/B/C for Kenya, and utility submittals for DEWA, KAHRAMAA, MEW, Oman DCRP and ICIGI.
7. AFTER-SALES AND SPARES
Technical response within 24 hours. Spare parts kept to the same drawing revision for the life of the design, so a drawer bought in year one still fits a cabinet built in year five. Warranty 12 months from commissioning or 18 months from shipment.
8. COMMERCIAL TERMS
FOB, CFR, CIF, DDP and Ex-Works. Consolidated container loading with mixed products. Trade Assurance, T/T and L/C at sight. Sample and pilot batch orders accepted before you commit to volume.
QUALITY CONTROL - VERIFIED ASSEMBLY, NOT A FOLDER OF COMPONENT CERTIFICATES
The most common reason a low voltage board is rejected on site is not a faulty breaker. It is that the assembly itself was never verified. IEC 61439 verifies the complete assembly - enclosure, busbar system, internal separation, temperature rise, short-circuit withstand and IP rating, together. A cabinet fitted with certified devices is not automatically a verified assembly, and inspectors in our markets increasingly know the difference.
DESIGN VERIFICATION - IEC 61439-1 AND -2
Strength of materials and parts, degree of protection, clearance and creepage distances, protection against electric shock and integrity of the protective circuit, incorporation of switching devices and components, internal electrical circuits and connections, terminals for external conductors, dielectric properties, temperature-rise limits, short-circuit withstand strength, and electromagnetic compatibility. Verification evidence is issued for the assembly as built and supplied for your tender submittal.
ROUTINE VERIFICATION - EVERY CABINET, BEFORE IT SHIPS
1. Enclosure inspection - dimensions, squareness, door alignment and gap, panel flatness, weld and bolt integrity.
2. Coating - pre-treatment, powder coat thickness measured, adhesion cross-hatch test, RAL colour verification, salt spray on batch samples.
3. Busbar system - phase sequence and colour identification, bar section and spacing against drawing, insulator and holder installation, every joint torqued to specification and marked.
4. Protective circuit continuity - PE bar and door bonding tested at the specified test current, resistance recorded.
5. Wiring - against the schematic, terminal tightness, ferrule and labelling check, bending radius and segregation of power and control.
6. Dielectric test - power-frequency withstand for one minute at the rated test voltage, insulation resistance measured and recorded.
7. Functional test - protection, interlocks, indication, metering, control logic and, where fitted, communication.
8. Degree of protection - gasket continuity, cable gland plates, door seal compression; IP verification per the stated rating.
9. Final inspection - nameplate data, circuit labelling, drawing pack, spare parts, tidiness, packing.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
Routine test certificate, design verification evidence, inspection checklist with the tester's mark, material and coating certificates, device certificates, GA and schematic drawings as-built, and the operation and maintenance manual.
INDEPENDENT AND WITNESSED TESTING
Witnessed factory acceptance testing available for EPC and utility projects; this is a standard requirement on Saudi SEC work. Third-party inspection by SGS, BV, TUV or Intertek accepted and coordinated at the buyer's request. Pre-shipment inspection reports with photographs are issued for every order.
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
ISO 9001 quality management. Incoming material inspection with certificate traceability, in-process inspection at frame, busbar and wiring stages, and final inspection before packing. Non-conformances are recorded, root-caused and closed - a discipline that matters more than any single certificate.
