A surge protector is an essential component of any electronic assembly. Since most home electronics are run by power sent over public utility power lines, a power surge can disrupt or damage electronic devices. A power surge is a sudden increase in the amount of electricity being fed via a power line. It is caused by several things, the most common being a tripped circuit breaker or a malfunction at the power plant. A power surge is dangerous to home electronics because the sudden voltage increase can overload the capacity of the circuitry.
Surge protectors work by dampening the excess energy and preventing it from overloading whatever devices are plugged into it. A common design is for a surge protector to be built into a power strip, allowing multiple devices to benefit from its protection. Inside the protector is a tiny device called a metal oxide varistor (MOV). The MOV shunts, or moves, the excess energy from the main circuit into a secondary circuit. This secondary circuit consists of a grounding wire and a neutral wire.
The grounding wire eliminates the excess voltage by dissipating it as heat. In addition to surge protection, most power strips contain circuit breakers or fuses, which automatically terminate the circuit if the voltage reaches a high enough level.
Many surge protectors, however, are built with plugs that are bulky and awkward. Most surge protector plugs are at right angles, meaning their pins are at a right angle to the electrical wiring. This makes connecting the surge protector to a wall outlet a hassle. It also means that positioning furniture or arranging the different details of a room is difficult, because of the surge protector. The solution is to get a flat plug surge protector, which has its pins straight on with the wiring, allowing the protector greater versatility in where it is connected to the wall.
There are different kinds of surge protector flat plugs that are used with surge protectors. A flat surge protector with a rotating plug affords you even greater flexibility. Both a flat plug and a right-angle plug can be rotating plugs. A rotating flat plug, however, allows you to position the surge protector, and thus all the electronics plugged into it, with greater ease of style. This also makes it easier to reposition the protector as needed, since the plug rotates to find the best position as the protector is moved.
Surge protectors with a flat plug allow you the convenience of being able to position your equipment as needed. They also allow you the peace of mind from knowing your electronics are safe from power surges. Purchasing home electronics represents a big investment. Surge protectors are the best way to protect you from the risk of losing that investment.
