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Surge Protection is very important to any electronic equipment. Here is a brief description of how surge protectors work.
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- Generally you have a device called an MOV (metal oxide varistor) it is inside a surge protector strip or
console. The MOV is in parallel with the voltage supplied to the outlets of the surge protector. These MOV’s
are also attached to the ground plug of the unit. When voltage is at normal levels the MOV’s have a high resistance
to the voltage (this keeps the path from the line voltage from the ground line). Once a certain voltage level is
reached the MOV conducts allowing a large amount of current to pass through it thus lowering the voltage back to
normal levels. The MOV only diverts surge current allowing the normal current to keep the equipment being protected
to operate normally
- Note: Surge Protectors only work if the circuit they are plugged into is properly grounded
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Things to look for in a surge protector
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- Clamping Voltage: this is the voltage level that the MOV’s operate at. There are generally 3 levels
330,400 and 500 volts. The lower the more sensitive.
- Joule Ratings: this is the amount of energy a unit can dissipate before it fails. The higher the better.
- Indicator light: these can tell you if your surge protector is operating correctly. If you blow an MOV
and there is no indication your unit may operate but will not provide surge protection.
- Phone Jack surge protection: if you are using a modem for your computer. (Any cable bringing a signal into
your house or business can bring in a surge.)
- UL Rating: UL is a non profit organization that test electronics products for there safety.
- Indicator light: these indicate that your surge protector is operating correctly. If one of
the MOV fails the light will extinguish. If there is no indicator light and one of the MOV’s fail your
unit may appear to work properly, but it will not provide any surge protection.
- Note: even if the unit has all these features, no unit is 100% effective. Do your own research and find a
unit that works for you and your application.
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