What is a Surge Arrester Guide, Electrical equipment safety tips, Electric hazard advice
What’s a Surge Arrester
26 Mar 2021
Burnt and melt down electrical output from over usage of electrical devices:
What’s a Surge Arrester and Why Are They So Important?
Electrical equipment is an apparent safety hazard for the public and the men and women who operate it. Ironically, electrical equipment is very susceptible to both sudden and gradual high voltage transients.
Generally speaking, over-voltage charges can destroy important electrical equipment used in public settings and facilities throughout the world. For this reason, surge arresters are used to protect electrical equipment from overload.
Surge arresters, by nature, are very simple infrastructures that serve a wide variety of purposes. Below, you’ll find out what this device is, how it works, and why it’s important.
What Is a Surge Arrester?
Again, a surge arrester is an apparatus used to protect electrical equipment from high-voltage transients. For example, a surge arrester in transformer is used to protect the electrical system against lightning strikes.
Lightning can severely damage a transformer and cause several thousands of dollars in costly repairs. A surge arrester can also be used in a wide variety of other electrical systems, in which it protects against internal events, such as switching.
Surge arresters are, in reality, not designed to absorb direct lightning attacks and maximum-voltage overcurrents. Instead, these systems direct this energy into the ground to neutralize it.
How Does a Surge Arrester Work?
To put it simply, this electrical device doesn’t work like a sponge in absorbing high electrical charges. Instead, the apparatus works much like a funnel.
These electrical devices are designed to have a low impulse ratio, which simply means that a high-voltage charge will not flow through and damage the apparatus.
Instead, the charge will be directed to the ground to protect any electrical equipment from an overload. This electrical device is typically installed on a conductor, clearly to capture the entry point of a high-voltage charge.
The device is also placed in this position to stop the high voltage before it fatally enters the equipment. Thus, the device is also connected to the ground and simply reroutes high-voltage transients to the ground if one occurs.
Through the use of a component known as a varistor, the device can property be connected to the ground without neutralizing the effects of the conductor.
This happens because the varistor has various resistances at different voltages. For example, a normal voltage passing through the conductor would never activate the varistor.
A very high voltage would activate the varistor and surge arrestor, and result in transferring the energy to the ground.
Why Is This Electrical Device Important?
These devices were developed mainly to protect against the random occurrence of lightning strikes. However, it’s being widely used as a safeguard against temporary overvoltages and switching surges as well.
A surge arrester installation can help protect vital electrical systems, reduce downtime, increase system efficiency, and save money on expensive repairs down the line.
The Incredible Impact of a Surge Arrester
Overall, surge arresters save thousands of transformers and similar electrical systems every year. In turn, these apparatuses are responsible for reducing maintenance and repair costs.
Recognizing the application of this vital component can help you improve the efficiency of your electrical systems and protect them from a random, high-voltage catastrophe. Browse around the rest of this section for more home tips and tricks.
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