The Micro-Z™ Cable

The story behind the cable that outperforms all others.

What Do You Really Need in a Surge Protector?

• Must divert all transients away from 
  sensitive equipment.
• Perform for at least 20 years

How Do We Achieve 20 Years + Life?

Easy. Use higher rated MOVs on the AC line.
On a 120VAC line, use 180V MOVs rather than the typically employed 140-150V MOVs.

Concern: In most cases, the use of higher voltage MOVs results in a higher clamp 
voltage, enabling larger transient exposure to downstream equipment.

At first glance, Micro-Z™ cable looks much like any other cable, however its special construction creates a cable with only 60% of the voltage drop of conventional cables. The significant MCG edge is to use higher voltage MOVs overall for long life and lower cable drop to get lower clamp voltage.

Micro-Z™ Cable is not just any other cable. It’s a high-performance approach in your fight against surges.

Voltage Drops along Power Cabling - Cable Voltage Drop - Micro-Z vs. #6 AWG

Test Conditions:

Velonex Pulse Generator

delivered a Standard ANSI

C62.41 waveform (6kv/3kA, 8/

20µs) into a 12 foot cable pair,

consisting of two #6 AWG

power cables, tightly taped along

its full length.

Measurements:

Voltage drop measurements

were made at 1 foot intervals

along the cable length.

Micro-Z™ Cable

Axial power cabling configuration from the protector to the service panel forces magnetic field cancellation

within the cable. This results in a correspondingly low "inductive" voltage drop along the cable that is up to 67%

lower than conventional cabling approaches.

Observation

Your sensitive equipment will be exposed to a peak transient voltage which is the sum of the surge protector’s

"Clamp Voltage" + the cable voltage drop, which is a function of its length.

Example

 A surge protector designed for use on 120 VAC Service, will limit a 6kv/3kA (8/20µs) transient to a clamp voltage

of 464V at its terminals,

...with 3ft. of #6 AWG cable, equipment exposure totals: 464V + 220V = 684V

...with 3ft. of Micro-Z™ cable, equipment exposure totals: 464V + 70V = only 534V

Using 9ft. of Micro-Z™ cable, equipment exposure totals are: 464V + 207V = 671V,

or about the same as three feet of #6 AWG cable.

Why Low "Let-Through" Voltage is Critical

Let-through voltage, which is what the sensitive downstream equipment sees, consists of cable drop + SPD (MOV) drop. MCG’s unique Micro-Z™ approach allows very low let-through voltage. Our protectors have very long life and extraordinary clamping.