No Failures - Period

We believe that surge protectors should not fail. At the heart of our Series Mode Surge Protector is a massive inductor. This is not a sacrificial component. It will never fail. It will not degrade with use. In fact no component used in the construction of our surge protectors is sacrificial. A Brick Wall Surge Protector will never experience a surge related failure.

You do not have to take our word for it. Consider the following:

• IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) states that 6000V is the largest transient that the interior of a building would experience.
• IEEE defines its harshest interior surge environment as one that could experience 100 surges of 6000V, 3000A in a years time (category B3).
• A new federal guideline recommends that a surge protector utilized in a harsh environment should be capable of withstanding 1000 surges of 6000V, 3000A or ten years worth of IEEE's category B3.
• UL (Underwriters Laboratories) now provides a new adjunct testing service (in addition to the 1449 safety classification) that will test surge protectors to the 1000 surge, 6000V, 3000A federal protocol.

"Early in 1996, 1000 surges (at 60 second intervals) of 6000V and 3000A were applied to an off-the-shelf Series Mode Surge Protector.

There were no failures. There was no performance degradation. Let through voltage did not exceed 400V.

We still perform this testing on our equipment today.

You cannot do any better than this for a building interior surge protector.

Reliability is usually the number one parameter for selecting surge protectors. Unfortunately most of what is available is not very reliable. Surge protectors are notorious for failing."

MOVs: Sacrificial By Design

MOV's are the mainstay component of the surge protector industry. For certain electronic applications they are an excellent choice. For AC power line surge protectors they are not a good choice. MOV's function by creating a short circuit (usually to the neutral and the ground) when a preset voltage threshold is exceeded. Essentially they divert surge current away from what the surge protector is protecting. Unfortunately MOV's are sacrificial components. This means that the performance life of any surge protector utilizing this technology is finite. With every surge current diversion above a modest level an MOV comes closer to its inevitable end. Surge protector with an exploded MOV

Joule Rating/Surge Current Limitations

The joule rating of any MOV is a measure of the amount of energy it can absorb at one time without failing. With an MOV this level declines with use. When exceeded it can cause an explosion or a fire. In a harsh, lightning prone environment this limit can easily be reached. The massive inductor used in our Brick Wall Surge Protectors limits current (hence voltage) and has no real world surge current/joule rating limitations. Our surge protectors can withstand the harshest surge environment indefinitely.

Thermal Runaway (Fire)

Clamping threshold is the voltage level where the MOV activates. Typically it is set around 220V at 1 milliamp current. With the peak of the sine wave normally at 172V, a surge of only an additional 50V will activate that MOV. Just as repeated usage causes the joule limit of an MOV to drop it can also cause the clamping level to do the same. Eventually the clamping point can fall below the peak of the normal sine wave. In essence the MOV turns on with every cycle of the powerwave and experiences thermal runaway (fire). This characteristic of an MOV made them totally unacceptable to our engineers. Our surge protector products do not utilize MOV's and have none of their inherent limitations. Brickwall Surge Protectors will not catch on fire.