Electrical motors are designed to work within a designated range of electrical power rates. Add too much power or too little, and the motor can be damaged or broken beyond repair. This is a special concern for Florida residents and business people, since electrical surges and power outages are common occurrence, no matter what the season of year. The electrical protection of motors can be achieved by installing any number of devices and systems, each of which is designed to protect a certain type of circuit, machine, or building.
Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs)
Water is a great electrical conductor, so much so even small children know not to mix electricity and water. Add moisture to a circuit and the connection will surge, adding much more power than is safe for the system to handle. Ground fault circuit interrupters, or GFCIs, are commonly added to outlets in bathrooms, kitchens, and commercial restrooms. If moisture gets splashed onto the outlet when an appliance is plugged into it, the GFCI immediately shuts down the circuit, preventing any electrical power from flowing out. This protects small appliances such as blow dryers, as well as large dishwashers and washing machines.
Circuit Breakers
The problem of too much power flowing through a system can come from outside sources, when electrical lines send power surges into a building. The same is true from inside, and it may be even more common. Older homes and businesses often weren’t wired to handle today’s massive electrical drain from multiple computers, electronics setups, oversized appliances, or business POS systems. Lack of outlets often means using power strips to plug multiple objects into one outlet. While this can be safe for a very short amount of time, every system can only handle so much. Once you’ve got too much power going through the building’s wires, circuit breakers turn off the power going to the overused part of the building. Wiring is installed in circuits: groups of outlets all wired together into a single entity. In this way, only one room or part of a room will be affected by a circuit breaker flipping off instead of the entire house.
Fuses
In older homes and commercial buildings, fuses serve the same function as circuit breakers. A fuse is a resister that’s designed to fail if a certain amount of power flows through it. Fuses are rated for the amount of power desired for each circuit; once the amount of power drawn from an individual circuit exceeds that rating, the fuse blows, preventing any more power from flowing through the circuit. The blown fuse has to be removed and replaced after the reason for the surge has been corrected, if possible. On-site electrical maintenance technicians will check each fuse for damages during regular maintenance visits. Unless you’re in a historic building that doesn’t allow you to change any part of the original plans, it’s best to replace your older fuse box with a circuit breaker and more advanced wiring throughout the building. Older fuse boxes and wiring systems can be fire hazards, especially with the power usage in modern homes and businesses.
Alternate Power Generators
When you think of the electrical protection of motors, overcharging probably comes to mind, but the opposite problem can be just as much trouble in certain cases. If you suffer from brownouts in your area or other chronic power decreases, it can severely damage your computers and other expensive electronics. A backup generator or other alternate power source can save your data, your business records, and even your business itself by keeping your electronics on long enough for you to safely save everything in hard drives and onto the cloud before shutting down. It’s nice to keep the air conditioning on during a tropical storm, but data management may be the most important reason to install an alternate power supply.
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