| |
| |
|
Hardware Information |
|
|
|
Surge Protector: A Simple Mechanism Description
A surge protector [AKA surge suppressor] is an electrical plug-in device designed to distribute safe electrical voltages to other electrical or electronic devices. Surge protectors resemble power strips in appearance; however, they are more sophisticated and deliver a constant, continuous power supply. In addition to connecting multiple devices to a single power source, surge protectors provide protection from frequent problems that plague conventional utility power. The most common of these problems are surges (temporary increase of voltage) and brownouts (temporary decrease of voltage). These disturbances slowly degrade many power supply units and cause premature equipment failure. The rising demand on our nation's power grids is causing more brownouts than ever before (Gamble; Power Protect Your Computer). The Inside of a Surge Protector Toroidal Choke Coil: The toroidal choke coil is an electromagnet wrapped in wire. It filters out line noise as the hot wire passes through it. Metal Oxide Varistors (MOV's): An MOV has three parts: a piece of metal oxide material in the middle and two semiconductors joined to the hot and ground wire. As a protective connecting unit it shifts unsafe voltage levels to the ground wire. Neutral Wire: The neutral wire is common in modern wiring practices for safety. It is used in conjunction with the hot wire and the ground wire. Hot Wire: The hot wire holds the passing current which contains excess voltage. Fuse: A fuse is a resistor used to protect the wiring from getting too hot. Fuses "blow or burn out", thereby preventing the electrical current from traveling further. Ground Wire: The ground wire protects users from getting an electrical shock. It receives excess voltage from from the MOVs.Most surge protectors contain a parallel circuit design whereby the extra voltage is fed away from the standard path to another circuit. Another design is a series circuit where the electrical current is slowed; moreover it detects high voltage, stores the electricity, and releases it gradually (Harris). The majority of the electrical currents diversion is done through the metal oxide varistor or MOV. The MOV acts as a pressure-sensitive valve: based on the level of voltage, the electrons in the semiconductors behave differently either creating lower or higher resistance. When the voltage is correct, an MOV doesn't do anything (Harris). Specifications and Quality Considerations Energy Absorption: Surge processors are measured in joules (the amount of energy they can absorb). The higher the number, the better the protection: 200 joules provides basic protection, 400 is good and 600 or high is superior protection. UL1449: Standard rated by Underwriters Laboratories as the minimum protection standards for surge protectors. It rates suppressors by the amount of voltage passage they allow. Protection Indicator: LED indicator as to metal-oxide varistors functioning. MOVs do not last forever - one lightening strike can fry them out. Line Conditioning: Most surge protectors contain this feature. It filters out line noise using a toroidal choke coil to "condition" the current. Power Switch: There are manual on/off power switches as well as circuit switches. Circuit switches are useful for keeping some components running while others are shut off. Circuit Breaker or Fuse: A fuse is a resistor that can conduct current below a certain level. If the current is higher than acceptable, heat burns the fuse and cuts off the circuit. Breakers are more economical than fuses as they do not have to be replaced. Protection Guarantee: Read the terms and conditions carefully! It is important to understand your consumer rights in the event of damage to devices your surge protector neglects to protect (Kozierok). According to data published on Hewlett Packard's website, recent statistics reveal 63 percent of all electronics casualties are the result of a power related problem. Most affected are devices using computer chips and high-speed microprocessors. Unprotected computers can suffer hardware degradation and extensive damage when exposed to power surges (Power Protect Your Computer). The cost of a surge protector varies greatly depending on user needs. Basic models sell for as low as $10 but one should be cautious as to the capabilities these units offer. NOTE: It is important to connect all peripheral equipment to the surge protector for complete protection. This includes phone jacks, modems, cables, and any other external devices that will receive electrical current. All visuals have been removed from this article to comply with the publishing rules for this site. Additional Resources Gamble, T. "Storm Season" www.bestbuy.com 15 Sep. 2004 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat31600050019&type=category Harris, T. "How Surge Protectors Work" www.computer.howstuffworks.com 15 Sep. 2004http://computer.howstuffworks.com/surge-protector2.htm Kozierok, C.M. "External Power Problems" www.pcguide.com 15 Sep. 2004, http://www.pcguide.com/ref/power/ext/probs.htm Power Protect Your Computer, www.hp.com 15 Sep. 2004http://h71036.www7.hp.com/hho/cache/764-0-0-225-121.aspx T.L. McMullen
MORE RESOURCES: IBM boosts entire quantum computing stack Ars Technica Two Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPUs burned out on X870 motherboards — vendor investigates the Ryzen burnout issues Tom's Hardware NASA dealing with aging ISS and spacewalk hardware: 'None of our spacesuits are spring chickens' Space.com PG&E plans 200MW data center campus in San Jose, deploys Nvidia hardware to nuclear power plant DatacenterDynamics Oglesby hardware store to close Shaw Local News Network HackUTD Event to Draw 1K+ Student App and Hardware Makers This Weekend dallasinnovates.com Join local hardware store’s Ladies Night on Thursday evening to help raise money for water rescue agency Sky-Hi News Wallace State Machine Tool Technology students fabricate hardware for NASA The Cullman Tribune NIST report on hardware security risks reveals 98 failure scenarios Help Net Security Batting cages, golf simulators coming to former hardware store space in Auburn The Business Journals Phison intros 'world's fastest' high-capacity 128TB SSD — Pascari D205V hits 3 million IOPS and 14,600 MB/s with PCIe 5.0 Tom's Hardware AWS to discontinue Snowcone Edge appliance, cuts Snowball family hardware range to two devices DatacenterDynamics Microsoft releases official Windows 11 ISO for Arm devices — Extending support for Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processors Tom's Hardware TSMC sued for race and citizenship discrimination at its Arizona facilities (updated) Tom's Hardware AMD claims the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is 75% faster than Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V in gaming Tom's Hardware RISC-V motherboard for Framework 13 laptops and mini-PCs starts at $199 – quad-core RISC-V CPU and 8GB of RAM included Tom's Hardware From AI to Hardware Costs: Enterprise Tech Leaders Prepare for Trump 2.0 The Wall Street Journal Guangdong KinLong Hardware ProductsLtd (SZSE:002791) Has A Pretty Healthy Balance Sheet Simply Wall St Sunshine Ace Hardware to host Grand Opening Celebration for Ave Maria store Priority Marketing At 2024 AI Hardware & Edge AI Summit: Prasad Jogalekar, Head of Global AI and Accelerator Hub, Ericsson insideBIGDATA Best Graphics Cards for Gaming in 2024 Tom's Hardware Despite brutal price hikes on many products, VMWare makes Fusion Pro and Workstation Pro free for all users Tom's Hardware Local and foreign chip manufacturers flee China, expand in Vietnam — companies move to Southeast Asia as US-China tensions simmer Tom's Hardware Adding ceramic powder to liquid metal thermal paste improves cooling up to 72% says researchers Tom's Hardware PS5 Pro Tops Japanese Hardware In Debut Week With Over 78,000 Units Sold PlayStation Universe Taiwanese law prevents TSMC from producing 2nm chips overseas, Taiwanese govt official confirms Tom's Hardware Best Early Black Friday Tech and PC Hardware Deals Tom's Hardware AMD is purportedly preparing Ryzen 200 "Hawk Point Refresh" APUs — Ryzen 7 255/260 set to replace the Ryzen 7 8745H/8845H series Tom's Hardware Ace Hardware Releases Q3 2024 Results Hardware Retailing Elon Musk's massive AI data center gets unlocked — xAI gets approved for 150MW of power, enabling all 100,000 GPUs to run concurrently Tom's Hardware Nvidia App reaches version 1.0 milestone and exits beta — GeForce Experience and Control Panel now deprecated Tom's Hardware Best SSDs 2024: From Budget SATA to Blazing-Fast NVMe Tom's Hardware ACE HARDWARE REPORTS THIRD QUARTER 2024 RESULTS PR Newswire Pizza Hut's new pizza warmer uses the PlayStation 5's heat to keep your pizza hot — you can 3D print the new PIZZAWARMR for free Tom's Hardware LG's new stretchable display can grow by 50%, bendy panels can be deformed into new form factors Tom's Hardware Kove unveils hardware memory solution to achieve unprecedented data center performance Digital Infra Network Xbox gaming handheld is years away, Microsoft exec says Tom's Hardware This Season, Men’s Accessories Go Heavy on Hardware The New York Times Global GPU market to hit $100 billion in 2024: JPR Tom's Hardware Yubico’s biometric security hardware now comes in USB-C and USB-A Biometric Update Tangible raises £4M to bridge funding gap for climate hardware companies Tech Funding News Solidigm reveals 122TB SSD, the world's highest-capacity drive for AI workloads — D5-P5336 offers unlimited write durability Tom's Hardware 'Tough for all of us': Arthur's Hardware in Orchard Park closing after 117 years in business WKBW 7 News Buffalo Tips & Tricks for cooler weather | K&K Hardware WHBF - OurQuadCities.com |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Ceramic Disc Capacitor-How to Accurately Test It The last article I mentioned about electrolytic capacitor breakdown when under load. In this article I will talk about the high voltage resin coated ceramic disc capacitor. Computer Components for Idiots There are many fancy add-ons for computers, but the basic components of the computer are simple and universal. If 1 of these main components is missing, it's not a computer. How To Buy The Perfect Student Laptop If you are like most student's, money isn't exactly growing on trees. Choosing the right laptop can be a matter of saving yourself a lot of heartache and money at the same time. Expansion Cards Part 1: (of a 3 part series) PCIThe expansion slots available on motherboards allow for a variety of upgrades in a computer system, but matching the appropriate card to an available slot needs to be addressed before making any purchasing decisions. The most common types of expansion cards for modern computer systems can be broken down into three formats: PCI, AGP, and PCI Express. Testing Flyback Transformer - How to Test and When to Replace It Nowadays, more and more monitor comes in with flyback transformers problems. Testing flyback transformers arenot difficult if you carefully follow the instruction. A Review of HP Laser Toners Hewlett-Packard is, along with Brother and Samsung, one of the most readily available brands of laser toner. This is due, in part, to the fact that HP was first to release a laser toner inexpensive enough to catch the attention of the average consumer, in 1984. RAM - What is It & Why You Need Plenty This is the first article in the Understanding Your Computer series from aworldofhelp.com. Small Computers Today, small form factor computers demolish the myth that bigger PCs are faster. Specially designed SFF computers from Ovi PC, like the Prometheus, deliver tower-crushing performance in one-third the space, and at the fraction of the price. Choosing The Right Bar Code Reader The importance of a bar code reader in this day and age cannot be denied. A lot of practical and pragmatic applications for a bar code reader have been rendered essential by the changing times. RAID Disk Recovery RAID is short for Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks, a category of disk drives that employ two or more drives in combination for fault tolerance and performance. RAID disk drives are used frequently on servers and increasingly being employed on personal computers. Buying a Plasma or LCD TV FAQs This article focuses on frequently asked questions by buyers of plasma and LCD televisions.Q: Does the "plasma" in plasma televisions need to be recharged or replaced over time?A: No. An Introduction to HD-DVD High density digital versatile disc is a digital optical media format which is being developed. HD DVD is similar to the competing Blu-ray Disc. Drop On Demand Printers Most HP and Epson printers are drop on demand printers. They use electrical pulses to fulfill requests for ink. Survey of Both Past and Modern Printers Printers are on-line devices initially categorised as being either impact whereby a printing head assembly of some type is in physical contact with the paper, and non-impact where there is no mechanical contact with the paper.Impact printers:Dot matrix printers; employ a set of pins that can be projected or withdrawn as required to form a dot matrix of the required character that is fired through an inked ribbon to form characters on an underlying sheet of paper. Learn About The Three Basic Types Of Computer Mouse 1) Mechanical: This is a type of computer mouse that has a rubber or metal ball on its underside and it can roll in every direction. Sensors within the mouse, which are mechanical, detect the direction in which the ball is moving and moves the pointer on the screen in the same direction. 7 Steps to Cleaning the Laser Toner From Your Laser Printer Cleaning a laser printer, fax, or copier of laser toner canbe easy, provided you know what you're doing and use theright tools. This article will share with you some simpletips to help you clean your laser printers of laser tonerlike a pro. Learn to Find Cheap Laptop Computers on the Internet Cheap laptop computers are coming to a store near you. In fact, there are many there already. How To Troubleshoot DVD Drives Fast You really enjoy those dvd movies and games and the last thing you need or want is to experience problems with your dvd drive.To prepare for the possibility of having your dvd drive leaving you out in the cold one morning,we will dicuss problems that may cause dvd failure as well as the procedures you should take to correct these problems. Used Laptop Computer: Your Quick Purchase Inspection Guide - Part 3 Used laptop computers are everywhere these days. How can you sift through the mass of available used laptop computers to narrow your search down to the right laptop for you? This is the third part of a series of articles designed to give you a few suggestions for your next purchase. At War With The Internet When it comes to sales of technology products over the Internet, there are now two factors that potential buyers must consider as possibly 'too good to be true'. In the past, there was only price to worry about.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |