The definition of a ‘transient’ or ‘spike’ is a temporary excess of voltage and current on an electrical circuit which has been disturbed in some way.

They can also be defined as a change in the fundamental (50Hz/60Hz) frequency. A transient ‘surge’ can contain thousands of volts and thousands of amperes with duration of nanoseconds to microseconds.

Example of transient voltage

Transients voltages can be due to lightning, faulty power factor correction switching, faults or other disturbances on the power line, for example.

Whatever the cause, transient voltages can have a devastating effect of unprotected electronic equipment, especially exposed equipment containing capacitors in their input circuitry including small variable frequency drives (VFDs), fluorescent lighting and switched mode power supply capacitors. The results are usually spurious tripping at best or total destruction with all the operational downtime which can result from such failures. Motor winding insulation can also be stresses due to excessive transient voltages.

Capacitor damaged on printed circuit board due to transient voltages

SineTamerTM is a type of TVSS (transient voltage surge suppression) device specifically designed to protect sensitive equipment including switchboards, computers, plcs and AC VFDs.  It is widely used extensively also to protect airport scanners.

Airport security scanners benefit from SineTamerTM
Two SineTamerTM TVSS units at input to switchboard

Damaging voltage spikes are not uncommon industry as can be seen.

Repetitive voltage spikes due to DC drive line notching and stray capacitance

The result is often disruption or the destroying of capacitor-based equipment such as switched mode power supplies, fluorescent light fitting and small VFDs.  SineTamerTM protects such equipment from the effects of the voltage spikes.

SineTamerTM protecting 11kW VFDs

SineTamerTM encompasses the development of a fourth-generation technology for surge and transient voltage protection. SineTamerTM is a lot more than a typical TVSS (transient voltage surge suppressor) which can be found in electrical panels worldwide. It is an engineered solution, specifically designed for the ultra-sensitive nature of electronic circuit boards (such as those used in VFDs, UPSs and PLCs) plus all variations of microprocessor-based control systems.

Please click at the appropriate place to obtain more information on :

SineTamerTM catalogue click here – sinetamer-catalogue.

SineTamerTM for VFD protection –  What exactly is a VFD? 

SineTamerTM for PLC protection – What exactly is a PLC?

SineTamerTM for petro-chemical industries click here – sinetamerpetroleum.

Information on “Unexpected downtime caused by electrical disturbances”.