What Causes A Surge In Electrical Power?

Published on 27 March 2012

When your safety and the continued operation of your IT systems, industrial processes and electrical appliances are at risk because of power surges, you can take steps to protect them by installing at the very least surge protection.

There are times, however, when this solution only masks an electrical problem that should be addressed immediately for your future safety. There are many reasons why the flow of electricity is interrupted. To understand this, you have to know how electricity is delivered to your electrical powered systems and how outside factors can affect the normal flow.

Anything that interrupts the continuous flow can cause *transient overvoltages. This can affect the mains power supply to your systems. An electromagnetic field can be created in a thunder storm. The lightning will discharge such a large current flow that any data or power cables that pass through it can pick up the excess voltage.

Overhead telephone lines and power lines can be affected and the surge can make it into your home or building and affect your power supply. Even if your building has structural protection and lightning conductors are installed, sensitive equipment can still be affected by power surges.

While lightning is the most well known cause of the power surge, it is not the most probable cause. Large appliances like refrigerators and air conditioners have a large impact on a building’s electrical supply when they are turned on or powered off. The temporary surge in electrical power can be enough to damage sensitive electrical equipment.

If the electricity supply company is having problems with their own equipment, those problems along with downed power lines will affect the steady flow of electric power into your business and could cause an electrical surge. While you can blame a number of outside sources for your problems with power surges, make sure that the problem isn’t caused by faulty wiring inside of your own facility.

Electrical contractors like Thamesgate can test electrical wiring for faults and inspect electrical equipment and power supplies that are producing erratic results and/or manufacturing output. The worst case scenario is a overheating of conductors and wiring from a power surge leading to a potential fire hazard.

This post is part of a series on the Thamesgate Blog. For more information on electrical contractors see our website.

Written by Nick Watkins.

Posted in Electrical Contracting, Power Protection