Benefits of gapped MOV arrester to improve system reliability and extend equipment life

It is not often the nature permits one benefit without compromising another. The authors detail however, in the case of a new series gapped metal oxide varistor (MOV) for system overvoltage protection, a dramatically lower protective level is achieved while providing an increased temporary overvoltage (TOV) capability. These benefits may seem paradoxical, but are a result of the unique interaction of a resistance-graded gap and the MOV disk stack