⊙ What is Surge Protection?

The main job of a surge protection system is to protect electronic devices from "surges." A power surge, or transient voltage, is a considerable increase in voltage above the designated level during the flow of electricity. Some of these surges can be caused by Electrostatic Discharge, lighting strikes, etc…

In any electrical environment there are “electrical surge” types of threats from Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) and lightning strikes, which can cause loss of data or even in extreme cases permanent damage to your electrical equipment.

ESD threats are can be created by a separation of charge that can accumulate on equipment or an individual and then be discharged through contact. Electrical Fast Transients (EFT), similar to that of an ESD, disturbances can occur as a result of arcing (jumping electricity) contacts in electro-mechanical switches and relays commonly found in heavy density electrical environments. Lastly, Lightning strikes can also create a large disturbance and delivery of electricity to electrical equipment. These lightning strikes can cause a differential in voltages to develop as a result of inductance in the protective earth ground path to the equipment.

There are several types of hardware applications that are more likely to promote electrical surges. The following are examples of environments that promote electrical surges:

• Locations favorable to Electrical Storms
• Unshielded Cabling
• Outside Exposed Electrical Wiring
• Multiple Grounding Points
• Long Cable Runs
• Poorly Built wiring

⊙ What level of Surge Protection do Sena products support?

Sena Technologies is committed to developing the highest quality products, with that in mind; surge protection is a main concern when Sena Technologies develops their products. Sena Technologies products are all FCC (Class A) and CE certified which meet their ESD protection ratings of level 3.

The following table includes Sena Technologies Surge Protection ratings for our Serial Device Server Line of Products: