What would you think if we told you there is a new way to provide a substantial upgrade in terms of overvoltage protection performance and reliability without redesigning your PCB? It may seem like a stretch, but it’s true. We recently introduced a revolutionary hybrid surge protector called the Bourns® IsoMOV™ Hybrid Protection Component that fully integrates a gas discharge tube (GDT) with a metal oxide varistor (MOV) in a single package that is the same size, pinout and form factor as a standard MOV.

For years, designers have had to figure out ways to compensate for the normal degradation of MOVs to maintain the required overvoltage protection. Common workarounds include choosing a larger MOV to avoid overstress or degradation of the nominal MOV, or putting a GDT in series with the MOV to eliminate leakage currents. Such solutions conflict with space-saving trends, are complicated, and often are more expensive than this new option. The GDT portion of the IsoMOV™ protector blocks current through the MOV portion, preventing normal degradation, so over-design is not necessary. Now a single component can surpass the performance of the workarounds without adding extra components, while saving valuable PCB space.

Our white paper New Surge Protective Device Solves Circuit Protection Design Issues discusses the innovation behind the hybrid design. It highlights how IsoMOV™ protectors leverage the speed, low leakage current and wider temperature range of -55 °C to +125 °C provided by the Bourns® GDT25 Series. It also presents the reasons why IsoMOV™ protectors are well-suited for industrial power line communications, high speed information and communication (ICT) equipment that frequently operate in harsh environments or remote, exposed installations that are cumbersome to service. 

Integrating a GDT and an MOV in the single hybrid IsoMOV™ component is in our view one of the greatest advancements in MOV technology in decades. You are invited to read a second new white paper that presents a coordinated circuit protection methodology using the IsoMOV™ protectors and how it’s features help deliver in a new universal AC power protection solution.