A transient voltage surge suppressor is a solid state component device designed to eliminate spikes and surges from your electrical environment.
WHY SHOULD I USE A MV-SERIES TRANSIENT VOLTAGE SURGE SUPPRESSOR?
MV-Series transient voltage surge suppressors will protect your electrical equipment from damaging spikes and surges.
WHAT ARE SPIKES AND SURGES?
A spike is a higher than normal amount of voltage that lasts for a very short period of time. A surge is a higher than normal amount of voltage lasting for an extended period of time.
WHAT CAUSES SPIKES AND SURGES?
Spikes and surges are caused by many different factors. Some of these factors are lightning, dust torms, wind, tree limbs falling on power lines, ice storms, and even by a car hitting an electric pole. Another cause of spikes and surges is inductive load switching (turning on and off electrical equipment). This can be caused by you, your neighbor, and even by your electric company.
HOW DOES A MV-SERIES TRANSIENT VOLTAGE SURGE SUPPRESSOR WORK?
One way to explain how our voltage suppressor works is to compare electricity to how water works. If you were taking a shower and someone else in the house was running water in the sink and suddenly turned that water off, you would then receive a surge of water in the shower. Electricity works in much the same way. When electrical devices are turned on and off they create surges similar to that of the water in the shower. When these surges happen they cause damage to the nearest electrical device. MV-Series TVSS through the use of various components absorbs these spikes and surges, therefore, protecting your electrical environment.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SUPPRESSOR AND AN ARRESTOR?
An arrestor, more commonly known as a "spark gap", is nothing more than two pieces of metal spaced at a predetermined distance apart. When a surge becomes large enough it jumps from one piece of metal to the other. The ground wire acts as an interceptor to take the surge to ground. This is a very effective method. However the peak voltage must build to a very high rate and arc over. Of course your arrestor is only as good as your ground.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SUPPRESSOR AND AN ISOLATION TRANSFORMER?
Isolation transformers were designed to supply more steady voltage to a specific piece of equipment. New studies show that when they receive a spike and surge they can actually multiply it causing more damage than would have occurred without it. Component suppressors are designed to take out the spikes and surges. They will do nothing for under voltage.
WHY DO I NEED A SUPPRESSOR IF I HAVE A UPS SYSTEM?
You may or may not. Usually you can determine by the price of the UPS. Most systems build in some suppression, but very few are adequate because of the cost. It is also unlikely that the suppression will be fused or have any type of indication whether it is working or not. Pulse width UPS systems can actually add to your problems without suppression because most of them put noise on the line.
WHAT HAPPENS IF MY MV-SERIES TVSS FAILS?
The MV-Series is designed so that if your suppressor fails the fuses will blow taking the suppressor off-line, and lighting the indicator lights to warn you of the failure. You will not lose power at this time! You simply replace the fuses. If the spike or surge that was suppressed damaged any of the internal components it will not refuse. The MV-Series TVSS is covered for five years under warranty.
WHY AREN'T THE UTILITY COMPANIES PROMOTING SUPPRESSION?
This is a good question! Suppression could solve many of their problems, and the power companies that we have visited with see this. The power company has not priced power to be computer grade. Therefore, they can't afford to add the necessary means without drastically raising rates. Most people are unaware when it comes to electricity, and they blame the utility for problems that they are creating themselves. The utility companies do not have the time to argue this point with most people so they ignore it.
WHY HAVEN'T I NOTICED THESE PROBLEMS BEFORE?
You probably have noticed the problems caused by spikes and surges. We all expect our motors, light bulbs, and all other electrical equipment to last for only a certain period of time. With the MV-Series TVSS these electrical devices will last longer and require less maintenance, therefore, saving you money.
WHY SHOULD I USE A FUSED TRANSIENT VOLTAGE SUPPRESSOR?
Most suppressors on the market today have either a MOV or a silicon avalanche diode as the main suppression component. When either of these components fail they create a dead short. The MV-Series TVSS is designed with fuses to take the suppressor off line in case of component failure.
WHY SHOULD I USE A PANEL MOUNT TRANSIENT VOLTAGE SURGE SUPPRESSOR WITH A PLUG-IN SUPPRESSOR?
Most plug-in suppressors are not designed to withstand surges as large as are commonly seen in our electrical environment. The key to suppression is to create the best connection in the electrical system. Plug-in units lose tension in the plug receptacle, therefore, creating a bad connection. Thus allowing the surge to pass through the suppressor to your equipment. MV-Series TVSS are hard-wired directly into your panel using nickel cadmium wire which creates the best connection possible to protect all of your equipment plugged in and hard wired.
WHAT SHOULD THE MAXIMUM PEAK CURRENT OF A TRANSIENT VOLTAGE SURGE SUPPRESSOR BE?
This seems to be a question no one can answer. Studies done over the past several years indicate that 98.9% of the time a spike or surge will never exceed 6000 peak current amps. To protect against larger values than this you would have to be concerned about lightning. We can only assume the amount of peak current amps a bolt of lightning carries. These amounts have been estimated in excess of 250,000, which would be cost prohibitive in almost all scenarios.
WHY DON'T MANUFACTURERS PROMOTE SUPPRESSION?
More and more are everyday!! Most High Tech manufacturers are now stating that you at least need to run a dedicated line to your new equipment. This is the first step to help eliminate ground noise from the equipment.
CAN MY SUPPRESSOR CAUSE DAMAGE TO MY SYSTEM OR VOID ANY WARRANTIES?
No! The MV-Series can not cause damage to your system. Any manufacturer should be delighted that you add suppression because they would have less warranty work if everyone would add suppression.
HOW WILL SUPPRESSION EFFECT MY BOTTOM LINE?
Everyone's electrical environment is different. Suppression will save you money in downtime and maintenance. Our payoff reports from the field show anywhere from one hour in the event of a lightning strike to three years in an unusually clean electrical environment.
HOW DO I CONTACT YOU FOR MORE INFORMATION OR ORDERING?
MVC, Inc. has many different ways to contact us! We are a very service oriented business and will always do our best to service our customers in a timely way. The following are ways for our customers to contact us: |
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