“Product of the Year” Story Behind the Story: Zero Surge's WVR-TSC Power Quality Filter

ZeroSurge's Chief Engineer J. Rudy Harford said his initial reaction to requests for a power-quality filter offering total surge cancellation was laughter—like most in the industry, he could not conceive such an idea as being possible. But hours and hours of hard work ultimately led Harford to the discovery of a solution that was "intuitively obvious after the fact"—a power-quality filter dubbed the WVR-TSC that pulled in a 2006 Product of the Year award. We spoke with the company to go beyond the specs and find out exactly what makes this product tick.

"The motivation for the development of WVR-TSC was the need by military contractors and a Pro-Audio/Video customer who expressed the requirement for more reliable, even more effective protection of ever-more sensitive and critical equipment in the face of degrading power quality, both in the U.S. and worldwide," said Harford.

Design achievements and hurdles
The most significant achievement behind the WVR-TSC's design was clearing what proved to be the biggest hurdle: designing the cancellation transformer to provide just the right amount of cancellation voltage and be capable of operating over the full 6,000-V, 3,000-A range without saturation or arc-over.

The engineering effort
The engineering design cycle consisted of computer simulation followed by breadboarding over a three-month period and more than 20 configurations prior to achieving the excellent results reported. Harford did all the design work, making extensive use of computer simulation to explore a wide range of possibilities. "When dealing with very high voltages and very high currents, it is best to start with simulations where these are mere numbers in a computer, before the actual designs are implemented, as a miscue at these levels can be very exciting," said Harford.

The most important tool in this development project was Pspice circuit simulation software, which allowed multiple design iterations prior to actual model building, cutting many months out of the development cycle. By modeling with worst-case parameters, it was possible to ensure that the cancellation transformer would work effectively with any combination of parametric variations and still result in total surge cancellation. "To our surprise and delight, the final designs actually performed much better than our computer simulations," said Harford

Protect Your Digital Images From Damaging Power Surges
Published by ImagingInsider.com April 5th, 2007

Camera manufacturers continue to make it a lot less expensive for consumers who wish to try their hand at digital photography, as price points for digital cameras have dropped significantly over the past few years. Today, more consumers than ever are taking their pictures digitally, and are entrusting their digital files to their own personal computers, taking for granted that their memories of family vacations, birthdays, holidays and more, are safe. However, in the blink of an eye, all those images can be lost forever if the computer is left exposed to a power line surge. To truly safeguard their images and memories, shutterbugs of all kinds can turn to Zero Surge and its TSC™ surge cancellation technology, offering peace of mind that their digital memories are safe for years to come.

“Just as consumers would consider a camera bag or case to keep their digital cameras protected and safe, they also need to make surge protection a top priority,” noted Rudy Harford, Chief Engineer of Zero Surge. “A power surge, which can happen up to thousands of times per year, can turn out to be quite expensive for consumers, as it can cause irreparable damage to computers or other electronic equipment, wiping out the priceless images stored on the computer’s hard drive. With Zero Surge’s TSC™ technology in place, consumers can rest assured that their expensive computers, and more importantly, irreplaceable images, have the protection they need to withstand the unpredictable power from the plug,” concluded Mr. Harford.

Nothing less than 100% surge protection with 0% failure should be considered to keep your personal computer and all of its contents safe and secure; for that, turn to Zero Surge. Offering unsurpassed power line protection that totally cancels damaging surge energy, TSC™ is set to reshape the surge protection industry by establishing never before seen levels of performance and endurance.

Because TSC™ cancels damaging surge voltage at the output, terms like response time, clamping voltage, suppressed voltage, let-through voltage, Joule rating, maximum current rating, etc., are not relevant. Also, unlike common surge suppressors which utilize fixed clamping voltage components, WVR-TSC™ is fully dynamic, as it can operate over the entire 85 to 265 volt range. Fixed clamping voltage components, such as sacrificial metal oxide varistors (MOVs), limit the functionality of surge suppressors, only allowing them to operate over a very narrow voltage range, typically +/- 10%. In addition, Zero Surge’s non-MOV filters preserve ground wire integrity, which when used with sensitive equipment, can help eliminate unwanted and annoying interference and damage.

For over 17 years, Zero Surge’s patented products have been providing unequaled, unfailing powerline surge protection for numerous industries. Ranging from the convenient and economical 2R-Series, featuring two outlet units, to the more fully-featured 8R-Series, with eight outlets and a built-in circuit breaker to prevent overloading, Zero Surge power filters are rugged and built to withstand the most demanding electrical environments. Ensuring an added level of confidence, Zero Surge units are not sacrificial, will not wear out, and each one comes with a 10-year limited warranty and a Lifetime Service Agreement.

Zero Surge’s WVR-TSC™ technology is protected under United States Patents #7,068,487 and #7,184,252 and is available for purchase by calling 1-800-996-6696.

Zero Surge Inc. manufactures non-degrading power quality filters, certified by UL for safety, endurance and performance. In business since 1989, the company’s patented filters eliminate the surge damage and equipment loss often experienced with sacrificial MOV (metal oxide varistor) type surge suppressors. Zero Surge Inc. has over 50 models accommodating a wide range of applications. Corporations, medical operations, universities, ocean vessels, the U.S. military and government, manufacturing plants, banks, utilities, and homeowners are just some of the customers relying on Zero Surge filters. The products do not contain sacrificial MOVs which wear out with use, can fail, and have caused fires.

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