Surge Protection Investigative Analysis
The cost of damage from a transient overvoltage is usually a substantial part of the purchase price of the equipment. However, this pales into insignificance when compared with the consequential losses – downtime, loss productivity, data loss and corruption.
At Unitech, our competent team of lightning specialists investigate the root causes of equipment vulnerability due to lightning strikes and offer cost-effective solutions to mitigate the underlying threats.
Surge Protection Investigative Analysis
Lightning can damage or disrupt electronics equipment through four key mechanisms:
- A lightning strike to the building’s lightning protection system, to ground or to a nearby structure, causing large current flows into the common ground impedance path of the grounding network. As a result, electrical supply lines, data and signal cables, whether underground or overhead, are referenced to a remote earth which is not necessarily affected by the localized lightning. A large lightning induced transient voltage can appear between any cable entering the building and the local earth;
- The rapid change of voltage that occurs when a high voltage line arrestor operates couples through the capacitance of the transformers, producing transient voltages on the LV supply;
- A lightning strike hitting a nearby object creates electro-magnetic fields which may induce voltages on the conductors;
- A direct strike to a low voltage line circuit injects high currents into that circuit, producing voltages either by flowing through the ground resistance or through the impedance of the primary conductors.
- Lightning damage to electronic equipment can cause:
- Loss of essential services
- Costly computer and manufacturing systems downtime
- Fire risks and electronic shock hazards
- Plant instability due to loss of control
Want to know more?
Our team of expert engineers undertake detailed inspection and testing of existing earthing and lightning protection systems. Following the test, in addition to your test certificate, you will also receive a comprehensive report on the condition of the system with our recommendations for repairs or upgrades where necessary to restore it to a compliant condition.
Unitech Pte Ltd
The Lightning Safety Specialists
Audit | Maintenance | Consultancy