Geek-of-All

A surge protective device, also known as a surge suppressor or a surge protector, is a device designed to protect electrical equipment from the harmful effects of electrical spikes and surges. The two most common methods that surge protection devices use to serve this function are diverting any excess electrical surge to a ground and blocking the surge. Most residential surge protection devices make use of the grounding method, which diverts excess voltage to a power outlet's ground wire. An electrical surge is classified based on the length of time it lasts. A spike lasts less than three nanoseconds, or three-billionths of a second. Any power flux that lasts longer than a spike is known as a power surge. Any electrical value higher than the standard voltage in an area — such as 240 volts in the India — qualifies as either a spike or a surge. Surge protection devices are designed to protect against the effects of both spikes and surges. When a surge protec...

A current probe is a device that can measure amperage without breaking a circuit. Current probes can be self contained devices, or they may be designed to work in conjunction with a multimeter. Most current probes consist of a set of clamshell jaws that can be opened in order for a wire to be passed through and then clamped closed. When the jaws are closed, the current probe can use one of a few different methods to indirectly measure any amperage passing through the wire. Most current probes use either a transformer, Hall effect sensor, or iron vane to measure amperage. Due to the way that electrical circuits work, current can be more complicated to measure than voltage or resistance. Both voltage and resistance can be measured by probing the ends of a component, since voltage remains the same in parallel circuits and resistance is measured directly. Current is uniform in series circuits, so a direct measurement of amperage must involve breaking the circuit. This...