Voltage Regulators VS Surge Protectors?

[mjawhary]

I am investigating some electrical problems at a warehouse distribution facility in NY. They have had power goes off and back on in the past and this caused some expensive battery chargers to go bad. They installed surge protection devices and still didn't fix the problem completely, the question is do they need a voltage regulator instead or in addition to the surge protection? Does the surge protection protect from power fluctuating or it only helps when there is lightning and bad weather condition?

Thank you for the response.

 

[rcw retired EE]

A surge protector is like a safety pressure relief valve that clips the voltage waveform to limit high voltage surges applied to equipment. Some surge protection devices also limit the dv/dt of the voltage waveform with capacitors.

If the equipment is still being damaged due to power outages, maybe the surge protection is not sized correctly or is not properly installed. For optimum protection the surge arrestor should be connected right at the protected equipment terminals.

A voltage regulator will probably not help.

 

[ScottyUK]

First define the problem, then look for a solution.

A surge arrestor or even a regulator won't help if "power goes off and back on" - to protect against that condition you need a UPS, or loads which are more tolerant of power quality problems.


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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[waross]

Back in the days of DOS and the 286 PC a momentary power outage would cause data corruption of the Winchester drive. We used to solve the issue with a relay that would drop out on a power outage and stay out until the relay was reset intentionally.

Bill
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"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[mjawhary]

I am considering now the use of a UPS which shall take care of all power problems as I hope, thanks all for the feedback.