Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main types of power quality problems?

What is “Electrical Pollution”?

What are the main problems caused by “Electrical Pollution”?

What can be done about “Electrical Pollution”?

What is a Surge Pure^® Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor (TVSS)?

How does the Surge Pure^® TVSS prevent equipment damage?

Why is “Electrical Pollution” the most costly to ignore and the least costly to eliminate?

Why is the Surge Pure^® TVSS System so innovative?

What do you mean by “non-degrading” TVSS?

What do you mean by “surge cushion”?

How many surge suppressors do I need in my building?

What does a “cascading grid of protection” really mean?

How does Surge Pure^® TVSS provide “circuit isolation” from transients?

If I have panel mounted Surge Pure^® surge protection, do I still need plug-in protection?

What are Blackouts and Brownouts?

What are the solutions for Blackouts and Brownouts?

Do I need TVSS if I have a UPS on my power system?

Does a transformer provide transient protection?

What about other types of power conditioners, constant voltage transformers, series filters, etc. 18_conditioners

What is a “series connected” surge suppressor?

Q. What are the main types of power quality problems?

A. There are three main types of power quality problems: Blackouts, Brownouts and Electrical Pollution.

Q. What is “Electrical Pollution”?

A “Electrical Pollution” consists of the external transients and surges caused by lightning, power grid switching, brownouts, blackouts and large load switching, as well as the internally produced transients and electrical noise caused by motor controls, electronic equipment, load switching and other transient generators.

Q. What are the main problems caused by “Electrical Pollution”?

A. The main problems are catastrophic failures and long term degradation of sensitive electronic and electrical equipment and machinery; lost data and malfunctions of communications and IT equipment as well as downtime and frustration.

Q. What can be done about “Electrical Pollution”?

A. Installing Surge Pure^® Transient Voltage Surge Suppressors (TVSS) in your facility is the first and best line of defense against the problems caused by “Electrical Pollution”

Q. What is a “Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor" (TVSS)?

A. A  TVSS is a passive electronic module which connects directly to the power lines, circuits and outlets of your building. When it senses that a transient voltage exceeds the normal operating level, it instantly turns “on”, suppressing the surge by safely diverting it to earth ground. It quickly turns “off” when the transient is gone and allows the normal power to continue flowing to your equipment.

Q. How does the  TVSS prevent equipment damage?

A. Damage is caused by high voltage transients containing large amounts of energy that breakdown the input semiconductors and insulation of electronic equipment. By diverting this transient energy before it gets in the building distribution system, the TVSS protects downstream equipment from damage. The same damaging affects applies to motors, lighting, HVAC and automation equipment.

Q. Why is “Electrical Pollution” the most costly to ignore and the least costly to eliminate?

A. Ignoring “Electrical Pollution” will eventually cost you thousands of dollars in repair of catastrophic failures, deteriorated equipment, lost production, wasted man-hours, corrupted computer data, downtime, etc. However, installing a relatively low cost Surge Pure^® surge suppression system will eliminate these problems and protect your assets. It is much less costly than UPS systems, standby generators and other types of power conditioning equipment.

Q. Why is the Surge Pure^® TVSS System so innovative?

A. Surge Pure^® has a unique SE Single Element Technology, which uses individual large suppression elements capable of safely handling high levels of surge current. This insures that the suppressor will never degrade, even after multiple strikes. Many other surge protectors are constructed using small multi-elements in parallel to obtain a high surge rating. These small elements are prone in degradation due to unequal sharing of the high transient currents leaving the user only partially protected.

Q. What do you mean by “non-degrading” TVSS?

A. “Non-degrading” TVSS means that the unit will not loose its ability to handle high peak currents with time or use. Surge Pure^® uses large, 40 and 53 mm diameter MOVs in all its "Non-degrading Single Element Technology" TVSS's. This means that the surge suppressor retains its full surge current capability. Many other manufacturers use a large number of smaller MOV’s in parallel to “build up” their surge current ratings. This type of “multi-element” construction loses some of its ability to handle surges each time it diverts a large surge to ground. The Surge Pure^® Mach 1 rated at 45,000 amps per mode all the way up to the Mach 6 rated at 320,000 amps per mode maintain their full ratings for their lifetime.

Q. What do you mean by “surge cushion"?

A. The Surge Pure^® "Surge Cushion" is the method by which the MOV's are encapsulated in order to contain an the explosive force that occurs when any MOV is subjected to sustained excess current. The Surge Pure^® "Surge Cushion" has been awarded the Intertek ETL highest rating of 200,000 amperes of interrupting current while continuing to contain the resulting MOV explosion.  This means the Surge Pure^® TVSS can be subjected to a surge current of at least 200,000 amperes without causing any external damage to your home, equipment  or facility.

Q. How many surge suppressors do I need in my building?

A. The Surge Pure^® TVSS System works best when applied as recommended by the IEEE Emerald Book, (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). A high energy suppressor should be placed at the service entrance to the building, a category C primary location. This removes the high energy transients from the distribution system. Then lower rated suppressors should be applied at the category B secondary locations on the distribution power panels for each critical load. This method of placing TVSS modules creates a “cascading grid of protection”, protecting each individual load from any residual external transients as well as any internally generated transients.

Q. What does a “cascading grid of protection” really mean?

A. This is a term for the placement of Surge Pure^® TVSS modules at strategic locations in a facility so that all the equipment is protected from internally as well as externally generated transients. The primary protector at the service entrance performs the initial “coarse” suppression and then the secondary protector at a sub-panel or on a low voltage circuit performs a “fine” suppression, limiting the transient to harmless levels. This “cascading grid” of multiple suppression levels insures that there will be no equipment damage.

Q. How does Surge Pure^® TVSS provide “circuit isolation” from transients?

A. By connecting the TVSS modules at each power panel in your system, the TVSS filters transients from both load and supply sides and effectively provides “isolation” of each load from any  load on another circuit.

Q. If I have panel mounted Surge Pure^® surge protection, do I still need plug-in protection?

A. Plug-in protection is for category A locations. A plug-in protector alone without upstream panel protection at the category B or C locations will ultimately lose its effectiveness. Plug-in protectors do not have the surge current capacity to handle large transients by themselves. In addition, the small MOV's will degrade over time and the plug-in protector will no longer filter transients. When used downstream in a cascaded configuration, the panel mounted Surge Pure^® TVSS will provide the best protection for critical loads.

Q. What are Blackouts and Brownouts?

A. Blackouts are complete losses of electrical power for a period of time. They can range from a split second to many hours. They can be caused by accidents which disrupt the distribution system or by opened circuits that may be caused by overloads or short circuits. Brownouts are reductions in the amplitude of the power to the point that the lights dim and equipment may trip off by internal protective devices. During brownouts, equipment may try to draw more current, over heat and become damaged. Brownouts may be caused intentionally by reducing the distribution voltage during periods of high demand or unintentionally by high overloads.

Q. What are the solutions for Blackouts and Brownouts?

A. Many blackout and brownout problems can be eliminated by installing various types of back-up power supplies. Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) contain batteries and can provide smooth instantaneous carryover for a short period of time. Standby generators may be started automatically if power is lost, but they take several seconds to begin supplying power. Thus for long term operation of critical loads, a combination of both UPS and backup generator is often used. A Surge Pure^® TVSS compliments, and protects the UPS and backup generator by filtering transients that will occur due to the brownout and blackout conditions.

Q. Do I need TVSS if I have a UPS on my power system?

A. Yes! A UPS is NOT a TVSS! In fact, the UPS should be protected by a Surge Pure^® TVSS so it will not be damaged if there are transients present on the power system. In addition, all of the other equipment in your facility that is not connected to the UPS is unprotected and susceptible to transients and should be protected.

Q. Does a transformer provide transient protection?

A. No. A transformer does not stop high frequency transients like lightning. A typical lightning transient is several hundred micro-seconds in duration. This is so fast that it jumps thru the inter-winding capacitance of the transformer and flows through the electrical service without losing significant amplitude. Thus it is necessary to provide protection on the low voltage side as well as the high voltage side of the transformer. For example, if the transient voltage is limited to 800 volts peak on the 460 volt primary side, it will also appear as 800 volts on the 120 volt secondary side. This 800 volts is too high for 120 volt equipment and must be limited to 200-250 volts by another TVSS rated for operation on 120 volt systems.

Q. What about other types of power conditioners, constant voltage transformers, series filters, etc.

A. Each type of power conditioner has some specific purpose usually associated with regulating the steady state voltage, but NOTHING stops transients long-term and at a lower cost than a Surge Pure^® TVSS!

Q. What is a “series connected” surge suppressor?

A. Surge Pure^® TVSS units are ‘parallel connected’ surge suppressors. “Series connected” units are connected directly in series with the load and thus must handle all the load current. Because their size is dependent on the amount of current drawn by the load they are generally more expensive and usually only available in ratings of 20 to 30 amperes for 120/240 single phase volt loads. They are typically only suitable for category A applications because they have very limited surge current capability. Thus they must be protected by an upstream “parallel connected” suppressor at a category B or C location.

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