Surge Protective Device

Electrical surge protection is a crucial part of any system that has the potential for damage as a result of electrical variances in current.  Many people are unaware that the flow of current that is provided to a home or industrial area is actually not fixed, and although the amount of flow that occurs on a regular basis is limited, the lines themselves have the ability to transfer more than that amount.  The most basic of surge protective devices is the breaker box, which essentially acts as a line of defense against variations in current moving past the street and into a home or complex.  The breakers are switches that cut off the flow if it exceeds a specific amount, and can then be reset manually to restore flow once it has been stabilized.  While it is actually rare that flow exceeds the levels that pop breakers, these are wide ranging and would allow more variance in the flow than would be essentially safe for computerized equipment.  Breakers are designed to prevent variations in current so great that they could potentially cause an explosion or fire, and while this prevention is certainly a good thing, they will still allow enough increase of current to harm the circuitry involved in computers and data processors.  These types of devices need additional surge protective devices installed just before flow would enter them, as a final and redundant form of protection against the minor surges that will cause damage or even degradation over time.  The same is true for industrial applications, who follow essentially the same types of setups just on a far larger scale.

Small fluctuations in electrical current happen every day, generally due to switching errors of instability within an electrical grid that feeds the home or complex.  Each and every time that current spikes and reaches an unprotected device, small amounts of damage are done to the internal components, shortening the life span of the device if not destroying it completely.  This ongoing and continual fluctuation creates a situation where the usable life of a piece of equipment is shortened, eventually needing replacement or repair.  Surge protective devices guard against this, and prevent it by never allowing the spike in current to make it to the device.  This prevents large transients from completely destroying equipment in an instant, as well as small transients from destroying equipment over time.  The costs associated with surge protective devices are small compared to repair or replacement costs of equipment, and the additional damage that occurs within certain industries to the customer base if service is interrupted.  Hard costs are easy to calculate, losses in business are harder to put a value on.  Surge protection devices prevent both of these types of losses by making the systems easier to reset after a surge instance and to get them back online quickly, minimizing downtime and at the same time protecting the equipment itself.

If you utilize computerized equipment either at home or in an industrial setting, verify that your surge protection systems are working and are adequate to protect your investment against the rare but destructive large surge, as well as the ongoing small surges that happen all the time.  Only through prevention can you protect your investments.