PowerTrip®
Transient Voltage Surge Suppression
PowerTrip®
surge suppressors protect modern sensitive microprocessor based equipment
in the harshest of transient environments. Around the globe, PowerTrip®
products are providing the ultimate protection for telecommunication,
information technology, automation control, oil and gas, and other sensitive
electronic instruments. Sophisticated and highly susceptible microprocessor
based electronics and data communication networks are integrated across
every sector of today’s fast paced business world. Preserving these mission-critical
systems from the damages of surges, spikes, and transients ensures that
these systems are protected from equipment destruction, disruption in
service, and from costly downtime.
ALLTEC Corporation’s PowerTrip® TVSS devices provide exclusive “Discrete All Mode Protection” to control transients by eliminating the transient voltage difference between all of the mode combinations, thus eliminating the susceptibility to transient current flow. When transient episodes occur, the ideal TVSS immediately bonds every wire combination to the same potential, instantaneously creating an equipotential bond. PowerTrip® products control voltage transients for all conductor combinations, an important claim not all TVSS products can make.
PowerTrip® devices are available for AC and DC power, telephone/data, and RF cabling protection. Alltec Corporation provides technical assistance on selecting the appropriate transient voltage surge suppression device for your application and the expert installation that is crucial to protection success. Alltec Corporation’s experienced sales representatives are proud to provide prompt, friendly, and knowledgeable service.
PowerTrip TVSS Product Selection
Selection Parameters for transient voltage surge suppression
Selection parameters:
- Surge Rating: the peak surge current per mode, by phase and/or total, that a TVSS can handle without failure
- Response Time: the time it takes a TVSS to react to a transient activity and clamp to protect equipment
- MCOV: the term for the maximum continuous over-voltage that a device can withstand. This value should be a minimum of 15% more than the rated voltage of the equipment to be protected
- Let-through Voltage: a measure of the device’s ability to protect downstream equipment. Remember, the lower the let-through voltage the better.
Location Parameters:
- Primary Protection: IEEE Category C or IEC Class I
Subject to externally generated impulse transients. Severe lightning and utility switching surges should be expected at the service entrance panel. - Secondary Protection: IEEE
Category B or IEC Class II
Sub-Panels are subject to a mixture of externally generated and internally generated switching/ring wave transients caused by large inductive load cyclic switching, fuse circuit breaker operation, and manufacturing/office equipment. - Equipment Protection-
IEEE Category A or IEC Class III
Also subject to a wide variety of switching/ring wave transients caused by a spectrum of load equipment. Office and commercial/industrial manufacturing equipment generate surges at the local service panel.
click image for a larger view
Surge Supression Technology
Technology used in PowerTrip TVSS Devices
Optimal
Response Network™ circuitry provides the best suppression
of high energy impulse generated transients and suits a wide range
of applications. The suppressor sets a threshold above and below the
peaks of the AC sinewave. Any deviation beyond this results in the
device responding to clamp the over-voltage to this threshold. (Click
Image for a larger view of PowerTrip®'s Optimal Response Network.)
Enhanced
Sinewave Tracking™, in addition to the fixed
system, has thresholds which track the AC sinewave and are able to
respond to any transient activity on the system at whatever polarity
and phase angle it occurs. Typically, this will reduce the same 2000V
test waveform at 180˚ to around just 40V L-N. Clearly, this now offers
the best available level of protection for your equipment, and is suitable
for protecting the most sensitive electronics such as PLC control systems,
data communications equipment, laboratory instrumentation, etc. (Click
Image for a larger view of PowerTrip®'s Enhanced Sinewave Tracking
Technology.)
MOV Technology: ALLTEC TVSS units make use of time proven, reliable Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV)
technology, manufactured by the world’s leading producers of metallized ceramic
substrates. Alltec Corporation provides a solid performance advantage by acquiring
custom components, designed and manufactured to exacting specifications, for
exclusive use in PowerTrip® products. Using this capability, our design team
has developed a method to extend MOV life expectancy significantly. PowerTrip®
MOV’s have been tested at over 17,000 IEEE B3 level impulses (6kV, 3kA) at 30
second intervals and shown no measurable degradation. Testing was stopped due
to time constraints, not failure
Encapsulation Technology: PowerTrip® TVSS products make use of proprietary Electro-Chemical encapsulant materials that thermally, electrically, and mechanically stabilize components and circuits. Thermal stability keeps components from prematurely going into thermal runaway, and maintains consistent performance over extended periods of operation. PowerTrip® devices withstand strong, destructive transients better and for a much longer period of time than non-encapsulated devices. Encapsulation dramatically increases circuit dielectric strength, provides strong resistance to mechanical shock and vibration, and shields components from dirt, water, fungus, gases, and other environmental and atmospheric contaminants.
What is an electrical transient?
Defines and describes electrical transients
An electrical transient is a temporary excess of voltage and/or current in an electrical circuit which has been disturbed. Transients are short duration events, typically lasting from a few thousandths of a second (milliseconds) to billionths of a second (nanoseconds), and they are found on all types of electrical, data, and communications circuits. Your power distribution system and attached load equipment is under constant attack from various types of power line disturbances. The result is an estimated $26 billion-per-year cost to U.S. companies in lost time, equipment repair, and equipment replacement. Transient voltage surges comprise the most severe and immediate danger to sensitive electrical and electronic equipment, and are often a neglected aspect of facility design.
Studies have shown that approximately 80% of transient activity at a given facility may be internally generated. From the normal on-and-off switching of copiers, heating and ventilation, capacitor banks, and air conditioning systems to robotic assembly and welding machines, practically every industrial machine or system causes or is adversely affected by transients. Surges and transient power anomalies are potentially destructive electrical disturbances, the most damaging being over-voltage occurrences and short duration over-voltage events, and the cumulative effect of these transients is a major source of semi-conductor degradation and failure.
The installation of Surge Protection Devices (SPD) are crucial for all facilities where microprocessor based electronics and electrical machinery is in use. This protection is essential to reduce the risk of personal injury, physical equipment damage, and loss of operations. Although lightning can cause the most visible damage, it is not the primary cause of transient voltage surges.
