DITEK Blog – Surge Protection Topics2023-10-31T13:44:06-05:00

Read the DITEK Blog for the Latest Information and Viewpoints

The DITEK Blog includes current information, opinions and suggestions for a wide variety of surge protection topics. Browse our blogs, and if you have an idea for a new topic that would push the industry further, please let us know!

Surge Protection Safeguards Valuable Assets

Insurance. We buy it for protection. For our business, home, car, health, even our pets sometimes. It’s a proactive investment to safeguard our most valuable assets. But what about your electronic and digital assets? Nearly everything these days is connected to the electrical grid—your computers, communication and entertainment devices, your fire protection system, not to mention an array of appliances. Are you being proactive to protect those assets? Electric surges happen every day and more frequently than you might expect. According to the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI), a typical building experiences more than 150 power surges each month (Deerwester, 2023). That’s an average of four (or more) a day! And over time, all those power hits take a toll on anything connected to the electrical grid— security [...]

Understanding the 2023 NEC Rules for Surge Protection

In 2023, the committees of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) published their most recent updates to the NFPA 70, better known as the National Electrical Code or NEC. Updated every three years, the NEC is the benchmark for safe electrical design, installation, and inspection to protect people and property from electrical hazards. New requirements specifically relating to surge protection emerged in both the 2020 and 2023 NEC iterations. And while NEC adoption by state varies, the consequences of failing to comply with NEC codes can be costly, endangering both people and property and resulting in expensive fees/repairs. Therefore, it is critical that all stakeholders, from electricians to electrical distributors and homeowners understand the latest NEC requirements for surge protection. Understanding NEC Requirements for Surge Protection The first [...]

Understand the Importance of Surge Protection to Boost Sales

In distributor and retail settings, sales are made one of two ways: passively or actively. In a passive sale, a customer comes in knowing exactly what item they want and purchases the product with no questions asked. Active selling requires counter sales, inside and outside salespeople, and even branch managers to actively assist their customers in finding the solution they need. The goal in active selling is to explain the benefits and importance of a product while appearing knowledgeable, so the customer is confident that they are making a good purchase decision. But before active selling can happen, the people doing the selling must first understand why a product is important or necessary so they can properly convey these benefits to their customer. Case in point, surge protection [...]

Do You Know How Much of Your Power Budget You’re Using?

Integrators and end users love Power over Ethernet (PoE) devices for their cost and time saving benefits as well as their ease of use. By delivering power and data over the same Ethernet cable, PoE devices can easily be connected, disconnected, and moved without the need for extensive cabling or electrical work. From IP cameras to access control systems and beyond, PoE is now the go-to solution for locations where power outlets or network connections are hard to come by. The low-voltage install of PoE devices is further simplified by PoE switches, which provide power to peripheral devices via a number of ports. But these switches are limited in the power output available to each PoE port and the switch as a whole. For this reason, knowing how [...]

Cost of a Power Surge

A common misconception about power surges is that devices are only at risk during extreme weather, but power surges can happen at any time without warning. According to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, lightning strikes account for just two percent of all surge protection damage. That means that 98 percent of the damage is done by the hundreds of power surges that are mostly unnoticed every day. These surges could be the result of something as simple as your air conditioner cycling on or off. They could also be caused by something much farther away - for example, when electrical power plants are connected or disconnected from the grid, which happens frequently as power needs change during the course of a day. Whether caused by [...]

Surge Protection Grounding and Installation Best Practices

For proper operation, install all Surge Protective Devices (SPDs) per the guidelines set forth by the manufacturer. Improperly installed devices will not perform as intended and consequently, will not protect the equipment.  The conductor length between the SPD and the protected equipment should be a minimum of three feet in length to allow enough time for it to react. The conductors can be greater than 3 feet as long as they are isolated and are not subjected, or directly exposed to internally or externally-generated, transient voltage spikes and/or surges. Always make sure that the field wiring (unprotected wires) and the protected wiring occupy separate conduit feeds. When unprotected and protected wires occupy the same conduit, surge energy can be induced on to the protected wiring and completely bypass [...]

5 Reasons to Install DITEK Surge Protection

In the world of systems installation, there is perhaps nothing more exciting than closing a big sale. Tallying up the bill of materials (BoM) on a multi-piece security system or campus-wide HVAC system feels like a win – because it is! However, many installers and electricians may be unaware that they are leaving valuable opportunities on the table by forgetting about one crucial line item – surge protection.    Surge protection has long been thought of as an add-on to electronic systems when, in reality, they are a critical piece of equipment that installers and electricians should take advantage of. Installing surge protection is a win-win, offering end users protection from damaging power surges while benefiting installers in more ways than one. If you are not already offering [...]

DITEK Surge Protectors – MOV vs. SAD vs. GDT

When evaluating surge protection for your networked devices, its essential to choose the right product to do each individual job. There is more to surge protection than simply hooking up a device – in fact there are several different types of surge protection, each engineered with differing core components performing the “dirty work” of dissipating surges away from your critical devices. The three most commonly found core components are MOVs, SADs, and GDTs; most surge protectors are built around one of these three and are defined by the capabilities of that component. There are also hybrid, multi-stage models available that contain multiple components for better coverage. Knowing the definitions and differences between these will help you choose the right surge protection solution for your critical systems. Metal Oxide [...]

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