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Are spike buster and surge suppressor the same devices or different? I also would like to know why laser printers should not be connected to the UPS. The literature that comes with the UPS cautions against using surge suppressors and laser printers. Please explain.

Siva Surges or spikes are sudden increase of voltages for a very small duration. The spike buster and surge suppressor are also called surge protectors as they protect against such increases. Any surges or spikes in the input will not be passed on to the output. The peak value of the surge or spikes can go up to twice or thrice the normal value or even higher. The duration of a surge is in milliseconds (one thousandth of a second). The duration of spikes is in nanoseconds (one billionth of a second). The surges or spikes cannot be measured using a normal meter. They can be seen only in high frequency oscilloscopes. The cause for the surges can be lightning, switching at the transmission, rapid connection or disconnection of large loads such as motors, compressors.

Generally, the UPS supplies a good conditioned power to output devices. It protects the equipment against voltage fluctuations, surge or spike in input supply and in case of input supply failure UPS supplies the output from the battery. The duration of the supply during the input mains failure depends on the rating of the UPS, Battery and the load connected. There is no need to connect the spike buster before and after the UPS. Some times connecting spike busters in UPS output can harm the UPS. The reason is the internal circuit of spike buster will provide a short circuit to surges, thereby arresting them and not passing the surges to the output. There is a chance for overload of the UPS due to this.

The UPS used in home computers is of the rating of 0.5KVA. UPS of this rating is not sufficient to supply to the computer and laser printer. Hence it is not recommended to connect the Laser printer on the domestic UPS. If the rating of the UPS if sufficiently high and you are sure it can take the load of all the connected equipment, say computer base unit, monitor and laser printer, you can connect the laser printer to the UPS. In industries, all electronic equipment including laser printers, is connected to the UPS. The UPS rating used for industries starts from 5 KVA.

Solution by P. Natarajan

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