Designing for immortality [surge environment]

Electrical transients from lightning and power utility fluctuations frequently damage equipment powered from an AC line. The authors discuss the actual surge environment, based on the analysis of a large installed base of commercial surge protectors. This analysis is based mainly on new information resulting from a review of returns for warranty service of commercial surge protectors. The data from warranty repair records has been combined with that from the literature to understand the customer environment. The authors show the range of transients that could be encountered in actual installations