The Basics Of Industrial Surge Protection

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Surge protection devices are one of the most commonly misunderstood products..  This is because if they are doing their job appropriately, they are rarely interacted with, and ultimately get forgotten about.  A surge protection device sits out of sight and out of mind until the very time when it is called upon to do its job.  Because regulated flows of electricity into people’s homes or offices are relatively stable, the minor fluctuations that are received throughout the day are generally not enough to trip the surge protection devices that computer or other equipment is plugged into.  Every now and then there may be a surge that shuts off breakers or trips these surge protection devices, and most people will simply shrug it off and reset the SPD to go on about their daily life.  We take it for granted so much that we probably aren’t even thinking about what just happened, and ultimately how much impact on our lives was just avoided.  Think about it like this, in a power surge happened that was not headed off by a surge protection device, there is a good chance that the circuitry inside of your computer would be damaged.  This would mean a loss of any work or files that were not backed up somewhere else, as well as however much money it would take to either fix the computer or buy a new one.  The simple surge protection device, that you forget was even there, was able to stop this tremendous amount of inconvenience and loss from happening every time that it does its job.  For the remaining time it is sitting dormant, and because of the lengthy periods of time in between surges you may begin to think that you can go without it.  Unfortunately, this is a lesson that is often learned the hard way many times every day. (more…)

Surge protection devices (known as SPDs) are one of the only effective methods of reducing the damage that occurs inside electronic equipment when power transients occur.  All computer and data processing equipment has a threshold that cannot be breached, with regard to electrical current, before the circuitry is permanently damaged.  While industrial equipment may have higher thresholds than consumer or residential versions, it operates with the same principals of overload. Consumer versions of equipment can generally be adequately protected from electrical surge damage with residential grade SPDs that can be purchased at most home stores. Typical surge levels that are seen in residences are often not the same levels that are seen in industrial facilities. Power surges that are seen in residential areas are typically transformer failures that distribute a surge to the homes and businesses connected to that grid, and typically don’t require devices stronger than those which can be purchased over the counter. Industrial facilities are another story entirely. (more…)

SPDs which are also known as “surge protection devices” are components that provide the ability to stop an electrical surge from reaching a destination point, thus protecting everything on the other side of that point.  All devices which are plugged into a socket or connected to a power source are susceptible to damage as a result of power surges, and it is the single function of surge protection devices to prevent that damage by preventing the electricity that is reaching that component from being of a level too great for the circuitry to withstand before damage occurs.  Along with this functionality comes the “electrical surge monitoring” capacities in many SPDs, as it is crucial for the device to be able to allow for power flow up to a certain level while still preventing any flow beyond that level.  The new and modern industrial surge protection devices offer this capacity. (more…)

If you are an owner or decision maker for a company that utilizes industrial applications or installations as part of your business model, you are probably very keenly aware of the losses that come with exposure. If your equipment is placed in the field, it has the potential to be damaged, creating setbacks to growth and issues with remaining competitive. Equipment placed at ground level in any variety of location types almost always has to be enclosed in a protective shell known as a “street cabinet,” and any equipment that is housed within structures that are potentially effected by weather must also be protected. While you may view the structure as the protection itself, many industries that rely upon computer integration for operations find that losses are not necessarily tied directly to damage by weather, but that the damage comes as a result of the weather. What this is usually seen in is lightning strikes to industrial facilities, and the power surges that follow them. (more…)

If your business is industrial, you are familiar with the trials and tribulations associated with equipment repair and replacement. Every year, millions of dollars’ worth of equipment that is positioned in exposed areas prone to damage will be taken out of commission by a variety of threats, and will need to be replaced to the tune of millions of dollars. The most obvious threats of theft and vandalism can be limited through the use of the most basic security systems and other means, but damage as a result of natural occurrences and weather is far more difficult to plan for and avoid. Potentially the most frustrating natural occurrence for many businesses are lightning strikes, because these have the ability to not only create large amounts of damage at the strike point but also residual damage further away. The natural setup of equipment provides the vulnerability that is exploited by the lightning strike, and the very cables and lines that power the equipment itself become the pathway for the damage. The lightning strike provides a huge surge of electricity that travels along these connections, overwhelming equipment that is connected together, essentially creating a chain effect of damage. Whenever  lightning strikes a component or a structure housing a component and destroys equipment at that point, then the associated lightning surge moves from attached components at that point to others in the system, damaging all in its path. The damage can be found large distances away from the strike point, and can many times costs add up to far more than what is incurred at the lightning strike itself. (more…)

You Rely Upon Industrial Surge Protection Devices

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Many times, it is the quietest systems that are the most critical. People rely upon system uptime in order to not only increase their own productivity but to maintain the levels of daily life that we have come to grow used to functioning seamlessly. For example, if you were to voluntarily turn off your phone and have no contact to others utilizing computerized devices for even 24 hours, your life would be intrinsically different than a typical day. Just a phone relies upon the benefits of industrial surge protection in several ways in order to provide the functionality that you task it with daily. First, the phone needs to connect and send a signal to a nearby tower in order to have any ability to provide functionality whatsoever. Within that tower is an industrial surge protection system that protects the equipment at the top to the connected equipment at the bottom. (more…)

Industrial Surge Protection and Residential Surge Protection

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While the concept of surge protection and the devices that perform these tasks is most easily understood by the public from the standpoint of how surge protection applies to the residential market, the residential and industrial markets are quite different from one another, as far as the design and makeup of the devices used. The residential surge protection devices are generally found as surge strips which are purchased at electronics stores and are designed to provide a thin layer of protection which shields sensitive computer equipment as well as data processors from the electrical transients that occur within the electrical delivery process all the time. These residential devices are installed to protect home computerized equipment against transients that are not large enough to trip the circuit breakers that act as the main barriers of protection. They are designed to protect against ongoing degradation of the circuitry due to small fluctuations in power. (more…)

Even Residential Systems Need Industrial Surge Protection Devices

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Everyone needs industrial surge protection devices, even residential customers. This statement may seem a little confusing because the differentiation between residential and commercial surge protection devices is not readily known. A typical consumer would look at an industrial surge protection device and probably be confused by what they were  seeing. The typical surge strips that are marketed to the residential consumer are obvious in their configuration, and they are easy to understand as they act as a place to plug a device into, with the other end plugging into the wall. This barrier of protection in between your sensitive computer or other electronic equipment and the wall outlet acts as the final barrier against surges and transients within the electrical system that happen all the time. The residential surge protection system is relatively easy to comprehend. The large scale power supply attaches to your home where it is regulated through a circuit breaker box. When these circuit Breakers are in the on position the power is allowed to flow through and to the residence.  If the power that is flowing changes and reaches a level that is deemed to be unsafe, the circuit breakers are tripped cutting off electricity until they are manually reset. Because the breaker system will allow for certain levels of fluctuation to happen that are not enough to trip the breakers, yet more than enough to damage the sensitive equipment connected to the wall outlets, we install a secondary level of protection in between these devices and the power source. These additional surge protection devices will function much the same way, tripping and cutting off power flow outside of a certain range, but at a range that is simply tighter than that which is controlled at the breaker level. Damage to computers and circuit driven equipment can happen in two forms, the first being a large scale power surge which destroys the circuitry completely and the second being small fluctuations that happen in a typical way and that can degrade the circuitry over time. While these same types of damaging effects happen on the industrial level, the need for more robust and technologically advanced surge protection devices at that level is necessary in order to protect equipment that is far more expensive and critical to daily life than your simple household computers. Because of this necessity to provide higher levels of protection, various methods of control are utilized by different devices which are specifically designed to perform tasks at a level which is far higher than is necessary within the residential market. A good example of this are the  Strikesorb SPD devices manufactured by Raycap which do not need the ongoing reset that would be necessary to restore power and functionality at a residential breaker box like discussed above. These specialized devices not only protect against the power surge but also maintain their status through the incident without the necessity for human interaction in order to restore their own functionality. These types of added technological advancements keep online many systems that are critical for modern life.

Clean energy research and surge protection

There has been much discussion over the past couple of years about continuation of US federally backed research and subsidies for wind and solar technology. Some insist still that fossil fuel industries should be favored for supplying consumers with electricity, since they are what we have always known.  While the debate will surely rage for some time to come over renewable energy vs fossil fuel energy, the real discussion always comes down to production costs. There is no debate that fossil fuels cause pollution and alternative energy does not, so the sides will often choose to concentrate on the amount of damage that is actually caused by this pollution.  One side will exaggerate the amount of climate impact, and the other side will minimize it, but neither will deny that as far as actual impact on the environment alternative energy production is more favorable. The real debate that will decide the future of energy in America comes down to the costs that must be covered by consumer payments. In a nutshell, the cheapest source of energy will usually be favored. By potentially cutting off research into better methods of production within the alternative spaces, the people in high level governmental positions may be keeping the fossil fuel industry relevant. (more…)

Many people are unaware that lightning is one of the biggest threats for property loss that many industrial businesses face. As a result of this threat, the need for continually improving surge protection devices and systems is needed. The competitive nature of business requires that operational costs be brought to an absolute minimum in order to survive and remain profitable, and losses that are brought about by natural events are difficult to manage. Industrial businesses will almost always have equipment in the field which is exposed to the elements and probably functions as an attractant for lightning strikes. This equipment is set up in a chain formation with components connected to cables and wires designed to allow for electrical flow or data transfer. A lightning strike to any of these components, the lines that connect them or even the structure itself which houses them can create a situation that results in extraordinary amounts of damage, and this damage is not isolated to the strike point itself. The strike point will nearly always see almost unavoidable damage, but the greatest costs actually occur when the damaging electrical surge is allowed to spread downstream and to happen in connected equipment that was nowhere near the strike point itself. This damage happens as a result of the surge of electricity that follows the lightning strike.

Surge protection devices are used as part of systems that function to protect equipment in the field from damage. The lightning strike itself is hard to avoid, and is protected against through the use of lighting rods, overhead shields and other diversion devices. The surge protection devices that are housed within the system function differently, and are instead tripped when the electrical flow exceeds a specific amount as a result of a strike or any other overvoltage. The surge protection device itself sits dormant along flow lines or at critical junction points, literally doing nothing unless the electrical flow goes too high. At that point their function is to cut the flow beyond themselves, either grounding or diverting the electricity. When installed at specific target points in a system, surge protection devices can prevent the flow of excess electricity to nearly any component in a chain. This is why it is suggested to not only install the devices at specific points, but also in a redundant fashion in case the device itself is destroyed or rendered non-functional. Through the effective use of surge protection devices, businesses can reduce their costs that are typically expected in the form of damage. This reduction of costs lets businesses remain competitive even in the toughest markets.

Has your business explored the most technologically advanced surge protection devices and systems on the planet? Raycap is the world’s leading manufacturer of surge protection technology for mission-critical industrial applications, as well as for residential installation. Why risk the losses that are sure to come sooner or later, when you have the option of using the finest SPDs in any market. Call Raycap today.