Written by Mark Lloyd, Senior Product Manager- Power Supplies & Surge Protection

Some time ago I penned a blog introducing a special guarantee where we offer a 5 year warranty on our QUINT4 power supplies provided that they are protected by one of our Plugtrab type 3 surge arrestors.  

This warranty is still live and I thought it would be worth mentioning again with some additional information just in case anyone thought this was a gimmick with no technical substance.  

First, back to basics. In a typical man-made switching transient event, rather than a natural one such as a lightning strike, it is not uncommon for such a surge in the region of 4kV and 2kA to exist for a short time. Man made surge events can be caused by any number of switching events, like switching on or off motors, relays or generators. Basically, each time you turn on or turn off, load or unload an inductive device, you produce a transient and the long term effect of these is to degrade electrical and electronic equipment.  

The QUINT4 has a very robust input and, because of this design, it is better equipped to deal with such a surge current at its input than most power supplies on the market. Because of its robust design it will survive multiple surges of this kind, but there is no doubt that the life of the power supply and equipment it feeds will be shortened by such transient events.

What role does a surge protection device play? In short, the use of a harmonised surge protection component enables symmetrical current distribution when an overvoltage occurs.

This can be seen in the diagram below. In this example where there is a total surge current of 2.2kA, the surge current through the power supply will be halved to around 1.1kA, with the excess current flowing to ground via the SPD.

So, there are clear benefits to this combination of power supply and surge protection:

Up to ten times higher protection

By using the type 3 PLT-SEC surge protective device, the QUINT POWER 4th generation power supply is ten times better able to withstand surge currents than it would be without the protection.

Double the life expectancy

A comparison to products that are not harmonized with each other shows:

Our combination of PLT-SEC surge protection and QUINT POWER 4th generation power supply doubles the power supply’s life expectancy.

Guarantee

We stand behind our team – if your 4th generation QUINT POWER becomes damaged in the first five years following purchase despite the using this combination, you will receive a replacement free of charge.

Don’t just take my word for it… the following link will take you to our “Unbeatable Team” landing page which has more information on this and the guarantee conditions, and a downloadable e-paper.

If anyone is interested in the detailed test report for the combination of power supply and SPD, there is also a link that just requires a few details.

For more information, contact Mark on 07717 335477 or email mlloyd@phoenixcontact.com