FAQ

The selection of proper EnFin unit(s) depends on various parameters, such as the voltage configuration and panel amperage. If your installation is somewhere outside the United States, or you are looking at a commercial or industrial installation, please send us a message so we can address your individual needs/requirements. Some units have many variations. We want you to be satisfied with any unit we provide. Units are available for most countries around the world.

Yes, EnFin units will protect your facility/residence if the surge is passing through the main panel. However, surges can enter the facility/residence in many ways: through the ground, power-lines, communication cables, and more. The surge takes the path of least resistance to the load. If the origin or source of the surge is not passing through the main panel, the EnFin unit at the main panel may not protect your entire facility/residence effectively. For this reason, individual EnFin units at the sub-panel, or the load centers, are recommended, such as EnFin power supplies.

Maybe! EnFin units are designed to remove the electrical noise in the system, which is often wasted energy. Removing the noise may result in energy savings for the facility/residence. However, EnFin will not make any claims on the amount of energy savings that can be achieved in a facility.

Depending on the application, EnFin units come in many sizes. The smallest OEM fits in a T5/T8 lighting fixture, and the largest EFC2888 series (24 x 24 x 12 in) can be conveniently mounted at the main panel.

We recommend installing a larger EnFin unit in the main panel, and a smaller EnFin unit at the sub-panel to protect both panels.

The EFC2800 series comes with a 10-year standard warranty, and the rest of EnFin units come with a 5-year warranty.

The installation has to be performed by a certified and licensed electrician. Please read the installation manual before installing the product.

Single-phase is 2 Line, neutral and ground. Ex: US residential panel with 120/240v. Single leg is One Line, neutral and ground. Ex: Asian residential panel with 240V L-L.

The warranty form has to be submitted within the first 30 days of the purchase. The warranty form is available online for your convenience.

The visible LEDs indicate the active phase of the units.

Depending on the noise levels in the system, EnFin units can get as hot as 140F (60C) on the surface.

Yes, EnFin units can be installed on the side, bottom, or top-mounted to the cabinet.

Check with your local electrical codes to install power quality equipment inside the panel. EnFin units are installed inside the panel in various countries.

Yes, with the help of external casing. EnFin units are not water-proof and are required to be inside NEMA-rated casings if they are installed outside of the building/residence/facility.

EnFin's Waveform Correction technology is a patented power quality solution for today's digital age. With the combination of Waveform Correction and Surge Protection, EnFin's product line offers complete protection and performance to your residence or facility. EnFin’s technology absorbs, attenuates, and dissipates harmful electrical noise into its tank circuit, correcting the waveform back to its sinusoidal nature. Please read here for more about our technology.

Traditional SPDs rely on the principle of “dumping energy into the ground” using a box of MOV (Metal Oxide Varistor). MOVs activate in the event of overvoltage and immediately pass the high-intensity surge energy from the power line to the ground. However, the surge diversion results in a severe problem of “ringing noise” in the system. The ringing noise, aka switching noise, is a higher order harmonic in the range of 3-100kHz. In addition, we do not live in a world with perfect “insulated ground” anymore. Diverting energy into the ground alone is no longer a solution.

EnFin’s technology is the combination of TMOV based surge suppression and patented Waveform Correction circuits. The self-healing Thermal MOV with the help of the tank circuit captures the surges and transients in less than one nanosecond. The captured energy is safely dissipated both in the TMOV and the tank circuit in the form of heat. The resulting ringing noise from the surge suppression is pulled into the low pass filter circuit, ultimately attenuating the noise. Therefore, the downstream of the EnFin device is noise-free. Read about EnFin technology to understand more.

The optimal installation of EnFin units in a residence or facility will result in improved: 1. Protection: Increased protection from surges, transients, switching noise, and higher-order frequency noise 2. Performance: Increased equipment/systems performance after the noise is removed 3. Maintenance: Decreased maintenance of the equipment/system by removing the causes of erratic behavior and malfunctions. This leads to energy loss reduction and an increased life of the equipment/system.

Every residential or commercial electrical facility under 600v at their main panel can use EnFin technology. With industrial, commercial, communication, and residential applications, EnFin has a solution for businesses, governments, and homes of all shapes and sizes.

EnFin technology meets UL 1449 4th Edition Type 1 & Type 2 SPD, CSA std. c22.2 No. 8-2013 Ed 5, NEMA LS-1, NEC Surge Suppression Standards, UL 96 A.

Surges and transients are used in the electrical industry interchangeably. Both are high voltage (110% above the rated voltage), high current, short duration, and high energy pulses that can cause damage to sensitive electrical and electronic loads. Surges enter the home or facility from the outside, such as through lighting strikes. In contrast, transients are generated internally through capacitive switching, starting/stopping loads, fault/arc initiation, power system recovery, etc.

Switching noise, or higher-order harmonics (3-100kHz), is the transient energy generated at the time of load switching. Todays electronics constantly switch from AC to DC, and DC to AC frequently for normal operation. During the switching process, electronics generate an unwanted electrical signal called “switching noise.” The switching noise is often referred to as high-frequency noise or higher-order harmonics throughout EnFin’s literature.

The three terms refer to electrical noise in the range of 3-100kHz.

High-frequency noise, 3-100kHz, is the electrical noise resulting from switching transients. The negative consequences of higher-order harmonics are: 1. They cause premature damage to equipment 2. Malfunction and erratic behavior of the electronic equipment in your home or facility 3. Electrical resonance phenomenon in the power system

No, the damage may not be instantaneous to the distribution system or your equipment. The noise constantly alters the capacitive reactance of the load, resulting in erratic behavior and premature damage to the load/equipment.

Surges and transients may cause instantaneous damage to electrical loads with the potential for fire, arc, or permanent damage to the system/equipment. The internally generated transients might not damage the load instantly, but will affect the performance of the system/equipment over time.

70-85% of the total transients in a home or facility are generated internally. The sources of the internally generated transients are: 1. Load switching 2. Non-linear load behavior such as VFDs and PLC 3. AC-DC power conversion 4. Starting and stopping loads 5. Arcing faults (ground) 6. Discharge of inductive loads such as transformers or motors 7. Contactors, relays, and circuit breaker operation 15-30% transients are generated outside the home or facility in the form of high energy surges. The sources of externally generated surges are: 1. Lightning – both direct and indirect hits 2. Utility initiated grid and capacitor switching

No. A traditional SPD installed at the main panel will only remove externally generated noise entering the home or building.

EnFin’s technology: 1. Uses Thermal based Metal Oxide Varistor for its surge protection device circuitry, complying with UL 1449 3rd Ed to remove externally generated surges and transients. 2. Uses waveform correction and low pass filter circuits to constantly remove the switching noise/higher-order harmonics generated internally in the home or facility.

Circuit breakers are current-based devices that respond in 5-20 milliseconds. Circuit breakers cannot stop the voltage surge or transients that usually occur in microseconds. The SPD in EnFin’s technology is the only device that can protect your home or facility from surges.

Yes. UPS’s are a great device when power interruptions are expected at the load/equipment, but they do not protect your loads/equipment from noise and transients. A UPS may have built in surge protection, but not enough to handle the transients generated at the main panel. The home or facility still needs large, kA rated SPD’s at the main panel and the load/equipment center.

Transients and surges may not damage your loads/equipment immediately. The transients hitting the electronics constantly alter the capacitive nature of the load/equipment, resulting in a slow death. The longevity of the load/equipment significantly diminishes over a period of time. In addition, the load/equipment tends to generate a heavy discharge current before it dies, resulting in possible damage to other electrical loads/equipment in the home or facility. Ex: Your outdated furnace will take some other electrical loads/equipment along with it when it breaks. The home or facility needs EnFin units that constantly absorb the noise and filters it out, so the life of your equipment is extended without causing maintenance issues.

Significant. The lead length on EnFin units must be as – short – as possible for effective surge and noise filtration. For every one inch of the wire, an additional 20-25V of let-through voltage is added. Surges and transients are high-frequency noises that have a higher impedance when the wire length is increased. All EnFin units VPR numbers are taken at a 6-inch lead length.

Not often. EnFin filters are robust enough to withstand harsh electrical environments. The LED indicators on EnFin units show the active phase. The units need to be immediately replaced if any of the LEDs are off. The units may fail when they are subjected to continuous high surge events. Some of our filters are still running well after 20 years in service.

No, they do not need maintenance. Clean the surrounding area and make sure the LEDs are visible to the homeowners or facility professionals.

Yes, EnFin makes surge protection and noise filters for DC applications. Contact us at info@enfinus.com to find out the required unit model number.