Protection of electrical engineering: which is better a good voltage stabilizer or line filter?
It is difficult to imagine a modern man, which does not use household appliances. But often such products have a high cost and therefore will be very unpleasant, if something happens to them. Therefore, frugal people are trying to protect the operation of equipment from power outages, which, Unfortunately, is not uncommon.
The main cause of most breakdowns of electrical appliances are voltage spikes, to combat which various filtering and stabilizing devices have been developed. These devices will help protect human property from unforeseen breakdowns. But to choose the right device in a particular case you need to understand, what is best suited for a particular type of technology voltage stabilizer, a, can, network filter.
What is needed to protect household appliances?
Most appliances do not tolerate changes in electrical parameters, especially if there is a sharp jump in voltage.
If the voltage is above normal in the long run, then the risk of power supply failure will increase, chips and other spare parts, which will be very hot.
If the voltage drops sharply, then all nodes and circuits will start working at extreme loads, which in the best case will significantly reduce their service life, and in the worst situation will lead to their breakdown.
Unplanned power outages have a detrimental effect on the service life of electronic components. Unfortunately, people are familiar with such problems of domestic electricity supply, living in cities, and in remote villages.
Usually home appliance manufacturers provide minimal protection for electronic products, but the range of stable operation of most products does not exceed 198-242 V. In this case, in case of equipment failure, due to power outages it is not subject to warranty service.
The main types of protection devices
Depending on that, what electrical device and for what purpose you need to protect, there is a classification of protective equipment:
- automatic type switches;
- sources, providing uninterruptible power supply;
- devices, filtering mains voltage;
- ware, stabilizing parameters of the electrical network.
Automatic device, designed for emergency shutdown of electrical appliances. Such devices protect electronic equipment from leakage and overheating, due to violation of insulation or poor contact. This prevents fire or electric shock. Such products are used in switchboards in apartments and private housing.
The choice of circuit breakers is based on the parameters of the rated current and the number of consumers used in the apartment. Today, portable models of such protective devices are presented on the electrical market, which simply plug into an outlet, and already through them power to electric devices moves. However, such a product will not protect against power outages, and just turn off the consumer, if the current values exceed the maximum allowable values.
For electronics, which requires delicate handling, example, computer, which must properly complete its work, it is advisable to use an uninterruptible power supply. Such a device continues to supply electricity for some time in case of unplanned disconnection of the main power supply.
What do you need a network filter for??
The main purpose of the mains filter is to smooth out interference in the mains. This effect was achieved through the use of a small electronic circuit, which absorbs small voltage drops and changes in frequency in the network. In the event of more serious problems, such a device simply shuts off the power supply due to the fuse.
Surge filters are available with a different number of sockets, which allows you to connect several appliances at the same time. However, you need to consider, that the filter is designed for a certain load level, exceeding which is not allowed). Therefore, it is not possible to connect several powerful devices to one filter.
So, can be summarized, that the mains filter means a protective device, which effectively smoothes low-frequency and high-frequency interference in the network and shuts down equipment in the event of overloads or short circuits.
Features of the smoothing filter
To protect electrical equipment from impulse jumps in the mains filters are equipped with varistors - devices, which can increase internal resistance, converting pulsed energy into heat. Very often this leads to varistor failure, but protects expensive equipment.
To suppress high-frequency interference from electric welding or electric motor, the circuit provides for the installation of LC filters. High-quality smoothing devices include capacitors and inductors in their design, which improve the stability of electricity supply, thereby extending the service life of household appliances.
It is not advisable to indulge in savings when buying a line filter, as cheap models perform the functions of an extension cord faster, rather than a protective device. Also, buying a protective device, it is important to pay attention to the number of sockets and the length of the cable, as it is often convenient to lay such carrying for connection of many devices, example: computer, monitor and printer in one place.
Design features and the principle of operation of the stabilizer
By stabilizer is meant a device in automatic mode, converts various voltage indicators into a stable value, Rivne 220 V. Electronic device, connected to a power supply with stable voltage parameters, works much longer, than the analogue, plugged directly into an outlet. The main parameters of the stabilizer include the following parameters:
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stabilization of voltage drops;
- protection of consumers from interference in the power grid;
- protection against the possibility of short circuits;
- smoothing of frequency interference.
The most common types of stabilizers are devices with step and electromechanical principle of operation. At the same time, step stabilizers are popular and inexpensive, operating on the principle of switching the transformer windings by interrupting for a few milliseconds. This increases or decreases the voltage parameters.
Electromechanical devices work on the principle of smooth voltage regulation without interruption. They have a high load capacity, but require regular preventive measures due to increased wear of the servomotor and current collection brushes. Plus, they are more expensive than stepped counterparts.
Why choose a line filter or stabilizer?
Carrying out comparative characteristics of the line filter and stabilizer, it becomes clear, that the latter copes much more effectively with various energy supply problems. Compared with the smoothing filter, which has the simplest design stabilizer - a complex device, with multilevel protection, thanks to which any household appliances will be reliably protected.
Surge filters are completely useless, if the voltage in the mains decreases or increases. In turn, the stabilizing device equalizes voltage parameters in rather wide ranges depending on model of the device. In this case, in the case of a sharp increase in voltage, the stabilizer will smoothly turn off the electronic device, when the fuse in the filter device burns out.
Naturally, the price of stabilizers is slightly higher than line filters, but the cost is worth it. Only, that when choosing the appropriate device you need to take into account the parameters of its power and choose a product based on the total performance of the electrical equipment connected to it with a margin of 20%.
When the stabilizer is better, and when the network filter?
Buying a line filter is enough just in case, when there are no surges in the house, especially to a lesser extent. But if the choice fell on the filter device, it is not worth saving, as cheap products often harm electronic equipment, than protect it.
In turn, installation of a high-quality voltage stabilizer is justified in the following situations:
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with frequent reduction of mains voltage to such values, that appliances start to wear out or, in general, turn off;
- in the case of expensive equipment, many times higher than the price of the stabilizer.
After getting acquainted with the principle of operation of various protective devices, it will be easy for the consumer to understand, which is better to choose a line filter or voltage stabilizer. To protect an expensive double-circuit boiler, it is better to spend on the purchase of a stabilizer. In turn, a filter is enough for an old monitor.
