Five Common Power Disturbances Voltage sags - Sags are reductions in voltage that last fractions of a second or longer. Sags are usually caused by a large load starting up such as a air conditioning compressor, large motor load or lightning striking a power line. You will notice a sag as flickering lights but sags can also cause loss of data, motor heating and equipment shutdown. They can be caused by a decrease in electricity load or a short circuit on electricity conductors. Swells can negatively impact sensitive electronic equipment with data errors, memory losses and equipment shutdowns.
Swells can also cause motor damage and shortened lamp life.
They can destroy equipment instantly or over time, ruin data stored in memory, modify data in progress and produce output errors. Noise interference - The most common type of voltage problem, noise can cause data and software problems that are both hard to explain and replicate. Known also as electromagnetic disturbances, noise usually causes audible or visible distortion like static on a radio or lines on a computer monitor. Noise can also affect stored data or cause data output errors. Unauthorized use of site contents prohibited.