In the US, the Ground Transient Terminator (GTT) technology developed by ECM Electronics and 9 Corporation deals with electrical transient and surge suppression for electronic equipment.
In the case of alarm systems, the GTT can be placed between case ground of alarm systems to eliminate one of the common causes of false alarms, ground transients. "A fire alarm system can now be made impervious to lightning induced ESD and transient voltages induced by device switching within a building." says John Pecore, President of Stormin Protection Products Inc. Pecore and his company are responsible for installing the GTT devices at Extended Stay. John adds: "With municipalities inflicting hefty fines on my customers for false fire/burglary alarms, they are constantly trying to improve their systems. Prior to this technology there was not a solution that I could safely apply to the grounding of these alarm systems. This technology truly eliminates many of the nightmares caused by ground loops and transients."
Hotel use
The Extended Stay America hotel chain was plagued by such false alarms. Power surges and lightning strikes caused intense ground transient activity, degrading the components in their fire alarm panels to the extent of causing them to malfunction or fail altogether. Not only was this costing Extended Stay money in fines and repair services, but it was inconveniencing their guests, and compromising their personal safety. Extended Stay America recently began retrofitting the Ground Transient Terminator (GTT) into the alarm control panels of every one of their hotels nationwide. Now this solution is helping Extended Stay guarantee safe, secure, and peaceful accommodations for their guests, and saving money at the same time, they say.
"No previous power protection technology addressed the unsolved problem of ground transients entering a system through the ground line," explains Dan Weaver, ECM, a member of the engineering team who developed the GTT. "By eliminating transients on the ground, potentially damaging voltages have no means to enter equipment."
The GTT works by opposing changes in electron flow on the ground wire. Its ability to oppose the electron flow slows the damaging rise and fall time of a power surge, rather than clipping it off entirely. By doing so, it controls frequency rather than amplitude and keeps damaging voltages from entering, the makers say.
