Brick Wall Audio Surge Protectors and Power Line Filters

IS A BRICK WALL THE BEST SURGE PROTECTION YOU CAN BUY FOR YOUR AUDIO/VIDEO SYSTEM?

We've been doing this for a while and as far as we can tell the answer is an unequivocal; yes.

To understand that the above statement is more than just advertising rhetoric you will need a little working knowledge of an electronic component call a Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV).

MOV's are the universal, de facto standard surge protection component. Just about every manufacturer of a surge protection product uses MOV's as the lynchpin of their design. Thousand plus dollar audio power conditioners do not break this rule. OK... so what are the who's, what's and where's of the MOV?

MOV's ARE INEXPENSIVE

The standard design calls for three of these components. Some manufacturers will double up on them to offer a degree of redundancy (you'll understand in a minute). More often than not they use the 14mm size. The top of the line for point of use protection would hopefully use the 20mm MOV. As stated before; "if you wanted to make a standard outlet strip a surge protection device it would cost literally less than 50 cents." If you used the 20mm... maybe a dollar. For the manufacturer it would be even less, they buy in bulk.

MOVs: SACRIFICIAL BY DESIGN

MOVs are the mainstay component of the surge suppression industry. For certain electronic applications they are an excellent choice. AC power line surge suppression is not one of them. MOVs function by creating a short circuit (usually to the neutral and the ground) when a preset voltage threshold is exceeded. Essentially they divert surge current away from what is being protected. Unfortunately MOVs are sacrificial components. This means that the performance life of any surge protection device utilizing this technology is finite. With every surge current diversion above a modest level an MOV comes closer to its inevitable end.

JOULE RATING/SURGE CURRENT LIMITATIONS

The joule rating of any MOV is a measure of the amount of energy it can absorb at one time without failing. With an MOV this level declines with use.
When exceeded it can cause an explosion or a fire. In a harsh, lightning prone environment this limit can easily be reached. Our massive inductor limits current (hence voltage) and has no real world surge current/joule rating limitations. The product can withstand the harshest surge environment indefinitely.

THERMAL RUNAWAY (FIRE)

Clamping threshold is the voltage level where the MOV activates. Typically it is set around 220V at 1 milliamp current. With the peak of the sine wave normally at 172V, a surge of only an additional 50V will activate that MOV. Just as repeated usage causes the joule limit of an MOV to drop it can also cause the clamping level to do the same. Eventually the clamping point can fall below the peak of the normal sine wave. In essence the MOV turns on with every cycle of the powerwave and experiences thermal runaway (fire). This characteristic of an MOV made them totally unacceptable to our engineers. Our surge protection products do not utilize MOVs and have none of their inherent limitations. Brickwall Surge Filters will not catch on fire.

SO, MOV BASED SURGE PROTECTION UNITS...

are prone to failure, have problems with large surges and can catch on fire or explode. We would assume that a thousand dollar audio powerline conditioner that utilizes this technology would use 20mm MOV's, double them up and provide a thermal fuse to protect against fire. We really don't know. If we were you we would definitely ask. Even if they do the protection they provide is still lacking. However there is an alternative

SERIES MODE SURGE PROTECTION: TESTED BY UL TO ONE THOUSAND SURGES OF 6000V, 3000A

We believe that a surge protection device should not fail. At the heart of our Series Mode Surge Filter is a massive inductor. This is not a sacrificial component. It will never fail. It will not degrade with use. In fact no component used in the construction of this product is sacrificial. A Brick Wall Surge Filter will never experience a surge related failure.

You do not have to take our word for it. Consider the following:

IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) states that 6000V is the largest transient that the interior of a building would experience.
IEEE defines its harshest interior surge environment as one that could experience 100 surges of 6000V, 3000A in a years time (category B3).
A new federal guideline recommends that a surge protector utilized in a harsh environment should be capable of withstanding 1000 surges of 6000V, 3000A or ten years worth of IEEEs category B3.
UL (Underwriters Laboratories) now provides a new adjunct testing service (in addition to the 1449 safety classification) that will test to the 1000 surge, 6000V, 3000A federal protocol.

Passing such a test is a virtual guarantee that a surge protection device will never experience a surge related failure.

Early in 1996 UL applied 1000 surges (at 60 second intervals) of 6000V, 3000A to an off-the-shelf Series Mode Surge Filter.

There was no failure. There was no performance degradation. Let through voltage did not exceed 400V. Certified by UL.

We still perform this testing on our equipment today.

You cannot do any better than this for a point-of-use surge protection device.