Electrical appliances exposed to consistent  surges and spikes  will either fail immediately if the surge is large enough or it will fail after a sustained period of time due to the continued stress exposed to them. Even low surges can cause gradual component degradation leading to early hardware failure.

* Dip (sag):  A short term decrease in line voltage. Normally resulting from a short circuit in power or a sudden increase in electrical load on the line, utility switching or equipment failure.
 
* Surge: The exact opposite of a dip. A surge is the temporary increase in the line voltage that lasts at least one cycle (approx 16mS). It can be triggered off by rapid reduction in power loads or by utility switching.
 
* Spike (transient): Similar to a surge except it lasts less than a full cycle (often only a few milliseconds)
 
* Electrical Noise: A very common type of disturbance, which is a random high voltage, or a high frequency interference on the power line caused mostly by non-linear loads. There are two types of noise, usually referred to as common mode (noise between power connection and ground) and transverse mode (noise between power connections)
 
* Our Service Guarentee: The ability to get back to all requests within 24 hours, deliver goods as promised and always offer sound, professional advice to all queries send in to us.

* Voltage Irregularity: Most predominant in rural areas where the quality of power supply is unpredictable, causing voltages to fall outside the acceptable power envelope. A volt switch or voltage stabiliser is strongly recommended.
 
* Brownout: A deliberate reduction in AC line voltage by the utility company during periods of unusualy high demand or insufficient load capacity. Power supply lines do not have the full capacity to supply the load which results in load sharing. (very common throughout Africa)
 
* Blackout: This is the ultimate power disturbance. It is a complete cut out in power line supply. Typically described as "zero-volt" condition lasting longer than a half cycle. This can be caused by utility equipment failure, lighting etc
 
* Lightning belt: South Africa's highveld experiences the most intense lightning activity. The density and intensity in this region is between 7 - 10 flashes/km/year. Kwazulu Natal has recorded as many as 10 - 15 flashes/km/year in certain regions. Lightning transients are in order of 20ka - 60ka which is sufficient to damage both appliances and telephone/data lines.
 
* Switch-on protection: When electricity is restored after a power failure, voltages can surge to levels higher and longer in duration than any surge protection device can accomodate. The Surge King, Surge Dimension and Surge Essential have been designed with 100% switch-on protection" to protect appliances from this hazardous occurence. Therefore there is no need to unplugging your appliances from the mains during a climate of regular load shedding or black outs.