COMMERICIAL ELECTRICIAN Orange County CA
JS Electric

0 Incredible | Incredible

Advantages of Using Surge Protectors

5,589 Views

Advantages of Using Surge Protectors

Written By: Jayesh Bagde
Date: 08/14/2015

Surge protectors are developed to protect electronic devices from the effect of power surges and spikes. These devices come in different types ranging from the most basic power strips to surge protectors for a whole house.Surge protector is an electric device that protects electric appliances from being damaged due to voltage spikes. It is capable of maintaining safe threshold of voltage running through electric devices. Most surge protectors feature multiple outlets. These are ideal for a computer setup requiring different devices like printers, scanners, routers, laptops and other gadgets which need a lot of outlet to plug them into one power source all together.

A sudden increase of voltage more than the normal level of electricity is called a power surge. For example in the United States, the normal voltage is 120 volts. If it reaches more than that, it may lead to serious damage to your appliances. Another cause of a power surge is a lightning strike near a power line that can generate too much electricity and can cause immediate harm to electronic devices. A surge protector is therefore needed to prevent this from occurring.

There are some basic things which you need to know in order for you to understand better how surge protectors work. A surge occurs when an increase of voltage lasts three nanoseconds or more while a spike can last for one to two nanoseconds. If the level of a surge or spike is too high, it will cause damage to machines. In some instances, no damage takes place. However, it will cause too much strain on the parts of your machine thus lessening its lifespan. If a power surge or spike occurs, the surge protector redirects the excess electricity to the grounding wire of an outlet and maintains the acceptable level of current flowing to the electric appliances.

There are different kinds of surge protectors today in the market. A common type is the MOV or metal oxide varistor. This device includes a metal oxide material which is connected to the grounding line through a semiconductor. The semiconductor serves as a variable resistance. When electricity is below the standard level, it creates a high resistance through the electrons. When there is an increase of voltage, the electrons will create a low resistance.

 


Another type of surge protector is the gas discharge arrestor. It has a tube which works similar to the MOV. It controls the electricity level with the use of an inert gas which serves as a conductor. During a power surge, the excess power would be enough to ionize the gas rendering it a good conductor. Because of this, it is capable of passing the extra power to the ground line until electricity is normalized.

As an added security, surge protectors are equipped with a fuse. The fuse will serve as a resistor. When a sudden increase of current happens and the surge protector was not able to divert the extra current to the ground line, the fuse will burn. This cuts the circuit and prevents further harm to your appliances.

Nowadays, electronic devices like computers, home appliances and entertainment systems are made up of micro chips or smaller parts which are highly sensitive to sudden changes of the supply of electricity. These electronic gadgets need to be supplied with a stable power so they can work properly. Thus, the use of a surge protector is essential because surges and spikes come about everyday and they're sometimes unnoticed.

When choosing the surge protector for your electronic devices, it's crucial to look for a reliable system which can give utmost protection for your valuable devices. Here are the basic specifications which you must look for:

- Sufficient outlets to accommodate your devices.
- It should have a built in fuse as an added protection.
- It should have an individual on/off switch for each of your devices.
- UL-1449 rating to ensure it has proper quality control and testing.
- It should have an LED so that you will know if it is working or not.
- Higher rate of total energy dissipation.
- Lower clamping voltage
- A higher joule rating is recommended.
- Lesser response time. Less than 10 nanoseconds are better.
- Warranty for damages to any connected equipment using the device.

There are also surge protectors for an entire house. These devices are installed directly to the electric meter. They generally cost around $300 and need to be installed by a licensed electrician.

ARTICLE SOURCE: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/advantages-of-using-surge-protectors-590658.html

COMMERCIAL ELECTRICIAN
ORANGE COUNTY CA

JS ELECTRIC  (714) 496-2110

111 W. Avenida Palizada,
San Clemente CA 92672, 
We are licensed 652382,
bonded, and insured

VOTED BEST COMMERCIAL ELECTRICIAN IN ORANGE COUNTY CA

MOTORS, UPS & GENERATORS

ELECTRICAL PANELS & CABLING

RETAIL STORES & LIGHTING

An electrician is a tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure.

Electricity is an extremely flexible form of energy, and has been adapted to a huge, and growing, number of uses. The invention of a practical incandescent light bulb in the 1870s led to lighting becoming one of the first publicly available applications of electrical power. Although electrification brought with it its own dangers, replacing the naked flames of gas lighting greatly reduced fire hazards within homes and factories. Public utilities were set up in many cities targeting the burgeoning market for electrical lighting. The Joule heating effect employed in the light bulb also sees more direct use in electric heating. While this is versatile and controllable, it can be seen as wasteful, since most electrical generation has already required the production of heat at a power station. A number of countries, such as Denmark, have issued legislation restricting or banning the use of electric heating in new buildings. Electricity is however a highly practical energy source for refrigeration, with air conditioning representing a growing sector for electricity demand, the effects of which electricity utilities are increasingly obliged to accommodate. Electricity is used within telecommunications, and indeed the electrical telegraph, demonstrated commercially in 1837 by Cooke and Wheatstone, was one of its earliest applications. With the construction of first intercontinental, and then transatlantic, telegraph systems in the 1860s, electricity had enabled communications in minutes across the globe. Optical fibre and satellite communication technology have taken a share of the market for communications systems, but electricity can be expected to remain an essential part of the process. The effects of electromagnetism are most visibly employed in the electric motor, which provides a clean and efficient means of motive power. A stationary motor such as a winch is easily provided with a supply of power, but a motor that moves with its application, such as an electric vehicle, is obliged to either carry along a power source such as a battery, or by collecting current from a sliding contact such as a pantograph, placing restrictions on its range or performance. Electronic devices make use of the transistor, perhaps one of the most important inventions of the twentieth century, and a fundamental building block of all modern circuitry. A modern integrated circuit may contain several billion miniaturised transistors in a region only a few centimetres square.

Orange County is a county in Southern California, United States. Its county seat is Santa Ana. According to the 2000 Census, its population was 2,846,289, making it the second most populous county in the state of California, and the fifth most populous in the United States. The state of California estimates its population as of 2007 to be 3,098,121 people, dropping its rank to third, behind San Diego County. Thirty-four incorporated cities are located in Orange County; the newest is Aliso Viejo.Unlike many other large centers of population in the United States, Orange County uses its county name as its source of identification whereas other places in the country are identified by the large city that is closest to them. This is because there is no defined center to Orange County like there is in other areas which have one distinct large city. Five Orange County cities have populations exceeding 170,000 while no cities in the county have populations surpassing 360,000. Seven of these cities are among the 200 largest cities in the United States.

COMMERCIAL ELECTRICIAN ORANGE COUNTY CA - JS ELECTRIC  (714) 496-2110
111 W. Avenida Palizada, Suite 8, San Clemente CA 92672,  We are licensed 652382, bonded, and insured
VOTED BEST COMMERCIAL ELECTRICIAN IN ORANGE COUNTY CA

×
No Image Found.