The profile of Surge protectors

Before we go on, we must know what is surge? what is a surge protector? Power surge is transient voltage. It refers to the extra and dangerous increase of voltage above the safe level in the electricity flow. The standard voltage varies in different countries such as 120 volts in America and Europe, 220V in China. No matter which country, if it rises above the designated level, there is a potential damage. Even a small surge or peak voltage from power supply can impact or damage your electronic equipments such as computers, telephones, fax machine, TV, audio or video equipments and other house hold appliances or tools. Especially the electronic chip widely used in computers and other exquisite devices are very vulnerable with voltage fluctuation and needs being protected from surge voltage. Thus, a surge protector comes into being.

A Surge protector or surge protection device (SPD) is an indispensable device of lightning protection of the electronic equipment. people used to call it lightning arrestor or over - voltage protector. A surge protector attempts to modulate the transient over-voltage supplied to power lines or signal transmission lines within the safe voltage range that an equipment or system can bear, or guide the strong lightning inflow to the ground to protect the equipment or system from damage.

There are 7 basic components in SPD: transient suppression diode, gas discharge tube or gas discharge arrestor, metal oxide varistor, crowbar circuits, A quarter-wave coaxial surge arrestor, A selenium voltage suppressor, carbon block spark gap over-voltage suppressor. Other important components are inductor, capacitor, resistor, over-current protection, iron-poor transformer, UPS. The type and structure of surge protector vary according to its end use but it includes at least a non-linear restriction voltage component. According to its working principle, SPD classifies three types: switch SPD, restriction SPD, shunt or choke SPD. According to its end use, it classifies two types: power protector and signal protector.

The surge protector has 5 main features:
1. Protection of phone / DSL /broadband lines
2. Protection of maximum peak current up to 45,000 amp
3. Protection of maximum power level up to 1780 joules.
4. Filtering of electromagnet / radio frequency interference (EMI / RFI)
5. Response within 1 second to protect the equipment.

the surge protector like a power sponge can absorb extra voltage in order to prevent most dangerous voltage from flowing in your vulnerable equipments. The switch SPD with telephone line protection can protect your electrical equipments from lightning strike and maleficent surge of power supply. It can also prolong their use lives. When the voltage surge from power supply rises over the safe range, the metal oxide varistor (MOV) in a standard SPD can divert it into the ground wire of the outlet. Once the extra surge current is diverted into ground wire, the voltage returns to normal level again. So the metal oxide varistor is also pressure-sensitive valve. Gas discharge tube (GDT) works like MOV --divert surge to the ground wire. The former does this job by using its conductor - an inert gas. The surge power can ionize the inert gas and activate it to an effective conductor so as to pass the power current to the ground wire. Once the voltage returns to within the safe range, it backs to a poor conductor again. In case MOV and GDT don’t work or couldn’t stop the surge, there is another remedy - built-in fuse. When the power current is under certain level, the fuse can conduct the current well. But once it rises above the normal range, the over heat caused by the fuse resistance will burn the fuse so it cuts off the power to protect your electrical appliances or equipments. In addition, some surge protectors can filter the line noise with its built -in line conditioning system.

Different circuits serve different demands. A researcher who is versed in anti-lightning products can design numerous circuits. Although the basic principle of a surge protector is the same, there is a huge difference between performance and price. A surge protector power strip can vary from $5 to hundreds or thousands of dollars. Of course, the cheaper the less performance and the less satisfaction. There are four basic power strip SPDs: Basic Power Strip with 5 or 6 outlets which serves basic protection and usually costs at a few bucks; Better Power Strip with better quality and more features often sells at US $ 15-25; Surge Station, a large surge protector with advanced circuits, which offers superior voltage protection and costs US $30-100. Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) is a surge protector with the device of a power supply backup which transforms AC power to DC power and stores up in a battery. If power is cut off, the power supply backup’s DC power is released and diverted back to AC power again to run your appliances. It can be sold at US $150 or more. Although UPS gives you good protection, it is strongly recommended to use with another surge protector as UPS might be damaged.

Certain guarantee of a good surge protector is usually offered by the manufacturer. If your surge protector fails to work, you can refund or be given replacement. To keep our computers and other expensive electrical appliances from damage, guaranteed surge protectors are very important and necessary as well. of course, if we buy somethig, we wish to enjoy it without any concern.

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