How Does Overvoltage Affect Power Supply?

Overvoltage can wreak havoc with your power supply, leading to a risk of damaged hardware and equipment. When the voltage increases over the average level for any longer than a minute or less, overvoltage happens. An increase in supply voltage can last anything from a few minutes to a few days.

It is often caused by a sudden reduction in power demand. In order to operate properly, equipment needs to be run at a steady voltage on an ongoing level. When voltage supply sudden increases for a time longer than normal voltage duration, problems will soon arise, putting more pressure on your overcharge power supply.

The Impact Of Overvoltage

Essentially, overcharge impacts power supply by shortening your equipment lifespan through overheating, increasing power consumption and causing other problems with your supply. With that said, overvoltage is not an uncommon occurrence. It frequently happens when a high volume of power is consumed. When there is a sudden break or make in currents, the risk of overvoltage increases greatly. This is not always caused by system faults. Overvoltage can also be caused by load variations on the entire system, as well as the switches between system operations. Switching off large loads or energising capacitor banks can also produce overvoltages. 

Other causes of overvoltages include the following:

• Weakened power system regulations
• Poor voltage controls
• Incorrect tap settings on transformers
• Restarting after blackouts
• Restarting of generators
• Heavy loads turned off from mains
• Increased generators added to the system
• Insulation failure
• Load rejection overcharge 
• Operating overvoltage
• Asymmetric short circuit grounding
• External causes such as storms

Whatever may be causing the overcharge, having a reliable, comprehensive USB system in place is the best way to protect your power supply against all interruptions.

Find out more about how Eaton is powering businesses everywhere and can help you manage the effect of overvoltage on your power supply.