Jul 27

Written by: Jeremy Glowacki
7/27/2010 6:28 AM 

There’s a lot of entertaining stuff on youtube these days, especially when it comes to science experiments that end in an explosion. That’s what you’ll find when you type “SurgeX vs. MOVs” into your web browser for an entertaining and informative demo that harkens back to the days of “Mr. Wizard’s World.”

SurgeX's Martin Dornfeld on the YouTube, right before he starts making things "pop."

The clip from North Carolina-based SurgeX shows how the company’s Surge Elimination technology matches up against an unnamed competitive product that uses MOVs (metal oxide varistors) to reduce and divert electrical surges away from vulnerable consumer electronics equipment.

SurgeX makes the claim that because a surge within a competitor’s device “must go somewhere” (meaning either to “ground” or “neutral”), this energy will eventually wreak havoc on the product itself and the equipment connected it.

In the clip, SurgeX’s Martin Dornfeld uses a surge generator to send a 6,000-volt, 3,000-amp electrical current into a SurgeX product that is connected to a bulb containing a resistor positioned between neutral and ground connections. When the generator sends the surge to the SurgeX unit, nothing seems to happen to the bulb. When the surge rips through a competitor’s product, which has been designed to move a surge to neutral, the bulb (playing the role of a connected AV device) dramatically flashes and the resistor blows.

In a follow-up call to further explain the demo, SurgeX senior VP of sales Shannon Townley said that his company’s products eliminate surges by using an air core inductor with opposing copper windings and a series of capacitors, instead of “sacrificial” components like MOVs.

The product is so effective at eliminating surges, Townley said, that even after 1,500 consecutive demonstrations at InfoComm the SurgeX unit only got a little warm to the touch. SurgeX is so confident in its product protection claims, in fact, it will be introducing its first product warranty, during this fall’s CEDIA EXPO in Atlanta.

“We bought the business at the end of 2008, and the old owners didn’t care about having a warranty,” Townley explained. “But we think it provides a good opportunity for our dealers, because we’re willing to cover not only the SurgeX unit, but also anything that’s connected to it.”