What Is a Power Surge? How to Identify It | Electrical Services in Myrtle Beach, SC

4/27/2019

Electricity is responsible for powering all residential, commercial, and industrial infrastructures. The quality of electricity matters as well. It must be provided at the required rate which can produce the performance to support the modern-day electronic items that are quite sensitive to fluctuations.

Due to the human dependence on electricity and several electronic devices, a high-quality and dependable source of power is the foundation on which modern day lives thrive on.

However, disruptions occur repeatedly. According toa professional from electrical services in Myrtle Beach, SC, businesses in the US lose more than $75 billion due to the occurrence of power-related issues every year. A systematic evaluation suggests that this impact is associated with an increase in the production costs, maintenance costs, lost sales, delays, and idle personnel. Therefore, electrical services in Myrtle Beach, SC recommend the installation of surge protection devices (SPDs) in your homes and offices as they can save your properties from major damages.

How Does a Surge Cause Damage?

When surges are not controlled, they pose high risk to any sensitive electronic equipment including home appliances. Electrical services in Myrtle Beach, SC has narrowed these damages to three categories.

• Disruptive: Industrial processes are interrupted, resulting in the loss of data and downtime. Generally, it is tough to assess the cause in such a type of damage.
• Dissipative: This type of damage is often permanent on all electronic devices and systems due to below average quality of power. The primary cause behind them is the creation of internally generated surges.
• Destructive: This type of surge is mainly associated with the destruction of equipment in sudden incidents. The main cause of destructive damage is the external surges.

The occurrence of destructive damage can create expenses in two aspects.

• Unexpected downtime for uncertain amount of time.
• Expenses related to the repair and replacement of the affected device.

Electrical services in Myrtle Beach, SC explains that the cost of repair and replacement of the affected devices are often equal to the installation cost of the SPDs. Similarly, each passing minute of the downtime causes businesses to lose hundreds and thousands of dollars. The MTTR (mean-time to repair) can include the search of replacement parts, diagnosis, installation of the parts, and reconfiguration of the equipment. The obtainment of replacement parts can require any time from an hour to days depending upon how they are acquired. Moreover, for remote sites, the travel time is more while the downtime and MTTR is worse.

A decreased equipment lifespan is represented by the dissipative damage. Several surges on the small scale put strain on the equipment, creating unexpected downtime and causing a failure. In larger commercial buildings, this is more noticeable. One of the signs is having a specific equipment to have more life in one area in comparison to the other area.

Business processes are interrupted due to disruptive damage. A surge can result into an alarm or loss of signal; it can block a process till the fault is fixed. Hence, the protection of devices requires that there is some sort of protection for the input power.

Causes of a Power Surge

So, what causes a power surge? According to electrical services in Myrtle Beach, SC, following are the reasons which cause a power surge.

Faulty Wiring

The distribution of electricity is based on wiring. The exposure of casing or damage to wiring can increase the likelihood of a power surge. This is because in such a state, wiring does not provide much electrical resistance. Therefore, it is possible for any conductive material to alter the current of the wire to risky levels. Assessing the condition of electrical wiring is tougher for a homeowner. A professional from electrical services in Myrtle Beach, SC can tell you better. However, the following signs can help you to locate it.

• The frequent tripping of circuit breakers.
• The production of buzzing or vibrating sound from the outlets.
• The presence of burn marks on the outlets.

Overloads

When a lot of power is drawn from a circuit, it can cause electrical overloads. Such scenario occurs if too much appliances are used at once, the amperage levels of an appliance’s circuit are overused, or with overusing the extension cords—a common sight in modern households due to the influx of mobile phones and smart devices. As a consequence, power surge can be generated due to an electrical overload when a huge circuit can draw too much power. Therefore, call electrical services in Myrtle Beach, SC in time before an overload causes a power surge in your home.

Blackout

Power outages are common after a power grid failure or when a raging storm is in process. These events can bring their own damages along with them. After the restoration of power, a power surge is caused by fluctuating current levels. Hence, this can affect your appliances which were unpowered previously.

Lightning

While channeling electricity is something your electrical infrastructure is supposed to do, a single strike of lightning can mess it up badly. After your electrical system is hit up by a lightning strike, it absorbs a large amount of current instantly. As a consequence, a huge spike is formed, becoming the basis of a power surge. Electrical services in Myrtle Beach, SC recommends unplugging appliances and devices in the middle of storms. Alternatively, a better solution is to contact a professional from electrical services in Myrtle Beach, SC to install surge protection devices.

 

Now that you are familiar with a surge and how does to spot one in your home or commercial building, you should contact electrical services in Myrtle Beach, SC and ask for their assistance in time. However, such jobs require the expertise of the best in the business. Therefore, contact Mister Sparky. With years of experience in Myrtle Beach, SC, we can save the electrical system of your home and office and ensure that the issue is resolved quickly.