City-Wide Power Surge

[AvantGarde]

Knocked out servers at our business (back up obv.) but also knocked out 8 straight A/C units, mine included. Maintenance is all over it, now gone to local business to get parts but what do power surges do to compressors?

Is there any gadget that might prevent this from happening?

Our business runs 5T Tranes, Goodmans, & Carriers, most 5-10 Y/O

[jeff520]

This is a device that sacrifices itself by becoming a short circuit if the power line voltage increases by more than a certain amount.

The device itself has a power rating, and if the power available in the surge is less than the power rating of the suppressor then no damage will be done to the suppressor and it will remain effective during the next surge.

Think of it like armor plating. Thin plate will be fine against bb guns and .22s, but as the caliber of the shell increases you need thicker armor plate for protection. Eventually, when the enemy is using tactical nukes, there may not be a thick enough armor made to do the job.

Suppressors are the same - the little ones built into power strips will give some protection to the devices plugged into the power strip - big ones are available to mount at the service panel and will protect all the equipment connected to that panel - but only to a limit. Get a direct lightning strike and your equipment is going to get fried!

I use hardware from APC (American Power Conversion), and the unit protecting my house will short circuit the incoming power line within one nanosecond if a surge is detected, and can handle a current surge of up to eighty thousand amps until the power absorbed exceeds the devices power rating. Heavier industrial units exist, its up to you how thick you want your armor plate to be.

Check it out:

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/...base_sku=PMF2X

[AvantGarde]

Jeff