Today's appliances, computers, and
other equipment typically contain sensitive electronics that can be
damaged by electrical surges. It's important to protect your
valuable investment. Here's what you should know, and some simple
steps you can take for protection.
Where Surges Come From
Steps for Protecting Your
Equipment
Where Surges Come From
An electrical surge is a very brief voltage or current wave. These
surges are sometimes called transient surges and can originate
within utility systems or your own home. Obviously, they're bad news
and can cause instant damage to electrical equipment.
Typically, these surges are caused by storms, animals, or trees
damaging power lines. Other causes can include utility switching
operations or accidents involving power poles. Residences can
encounter problems caused by switching appliances on and off,
tripped circuit breakers, blown fuses, or lightning strikes on
telephone or cable lines.
All home appliances are susceptible to over-voltages, but today's
electronic equipment is much more sensitive to these events than
more traditional appliances like refrigerators, washing machines,
and such.
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Steps for Protecting Your
Equipment
There are two simple things you can do to protect your equipment and
appliances from surges.
First, install "plug-in" type transient voltage surge suppressers (TVSS),
also known as surge protectors, wherever you can. They really do
provide superior protection for your electronic equipment. You've
seen these suppressors everywhere, as most local hardware or
electronic stores carry them.
These devices should have the UL symbol, the words "listed" and the
description "transient voltage surge suppressor" on them. A product
that has been tested under UL Standard 1449 assures that the product
meets safety and surge performance requirements that are recognized
by the electrical industry. Note that plug-in type TVSS protectors
do not work properly when they are connected to a two-prong
receptacle.
The second thing you can do to protect your equipment from surges is
to verify that your home has the correct grounding. The key to
providing good surge protection is the proper grounding of
electrical service with the telephone and cable TV service at the
point where they enter your home.
Contact your telephone and cable service provider to verify that
these services are in fact properly grounded.
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