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What does Joules mean when talking about surge protectors performance?

April 26, 2017joules mean PERFORMANCE protectors surge talking

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What does Joules mean when talking about surge protectors performance?

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The formula for Joules is simply “watts / seconds” This then refers to the amount of energy the unit can withstand for a given period of seconds, without failure. It would be more appropriate for a resistor or electric heater. As watts is a result of current x amps, and in the case of a surge, neither is known, or possibly kV & kA, then it is not a useful gauge of a surge protector or component’s capability. The more significant values to asses a surge protector is the surge current capacity and the let-thru-voltage as tested using the 8/20 u/s pulse.