What Is A Surge Protected Extension Lead?
If you are shopping around for extension leads you will have come across surge protection extension leads. but what are these? and how do they differ from regular extension cables?
Surge Protected Extension Lead
A surge-protected extension is designed to protect your electronics from voltage surges. These surges are dissipated by the extension lead before they ever have a chance to reach your plugged-in devices.
Power surges can cause extensive damage to sensitive electronics. Think devices like PCs and audio equipment.
How Do They Work?
Surge protectors commonly use Metal Oxide Varistors to absorb power surges. These don’t last forever though and will deplete with repeated uses.
Because of this, more sensitive surge protectors have shorter life spans than less sensitive ones.
What Causes A Surge
One of the causes that most people know about is lightning storms. Direct hits onto power lines or homes can cause power surges throughout the network. They don’t even need to be that close to your home to cause damage with some being reported by lighting strikes 2km away!
Inrush current is another thing that can cause a surge. An inrush current is created when a device is first turned on and draws a maximal instantaneous input current.
