Spikes and Surges: The Silent Killers of Electronics - Petra Blog

There’s a silent killer lurking in the walls of your house. It’s there under your desk at work, alongside the road on your commute, in all the places you frequent.

It’s not waiting for you, though. It’s waiting for your valuable electronics.

Power problems are a constant source of wear and tear on devices in every home. Blackouts, brownouts, spikes, surges and even just regular line noise all contribute to either an early failure from stress or a sudden, catastrophic failure.

Threats to the Power Grid Are Everywhere.

Your business, your home, and the businesses and homes of the customers you serve are just as much at risk. What exactly are the factors that can damage or destroy electronic equipment that doesn’t have protection?

• Surges/Spikes: These are short-term voltage increases that are most commonly caused by lightning strikes, utility company malfunctions, and short circuits. They can either cause catastrophic damage where sensitive electronics fail all at once, or the long-term buildup of spikes can stress electronics till their eventual failure.
• Line Noise: This is distortion on a power or other line, commonly caused by radio, high voltage, or severe weather. These can lead to snow/static and slow breakdown of electronics.
• Undervoltage: Popularly called a “brownout”. This is when voltage is lower than expected for a long period of time, from several minutes to several hours, and usually come from the grid not being able to keep up with demand for power. Brownouts can cause serious damage to electronics. They tend to degrade electronics over the long-term, and can cause system lockups on sensitive electronics.
• Overvoltage: Can also be called a “swell”. This is when voltage is higher than expected for seconds to a minute, often as a result of sudden load changes. Overvoltage causes overheating and stress in equipment and long-term degradation.
• Power Outage: Also called a “blackout”. This is a complete loss of power, whether short-term or long-term. Common causes include line disconnection, utility failure, or severe weather. These can cause system down time and lost productivity or revenue.

You can help protect against the damaging effects of all of these phenomena with power accessories from CyberPower.

CyberPower Surge Protection and Battery Backup Solutions

For basic protection of home computers, televisions and other basic electronic equipment with sensitive components, a regular plug-in surge protector works well. Something like this 4-Outlet Essential Surge Protector will smooth out line noise and divert surges and spikes to ground, protecting internal components.

A lot of customers forget that their USB-powered devices need protection as well—their smartphones and tablets can get burned out by being plugged straight into a wall as well. USB protection from a product like this 3-Outlet Professional Surge Protector keeps those devices safe.

For businesses and home offices, there’s a more pressing need: addressing power outages, brownouts and swells. Every minute of downtime is lost revenue, which means that surge protection alone won’t cut it. That’s why an Uninterruptible Power Supply is a great choice for businesses. These battery backup systems allow computers to run a little longer, which can either allow someone to keep working through a blackout or brownout or have enough time to save essential data. Systems like the CP685AVR come with robust power protection and management to ensure that businesses can maximize their uptime.

The Takeaway

Whether you’re looking for power protection for your own business or trying to sell solutions to others, Petra has the products you need. Let us give you the power protection solutions you need.