What are the classifications of gas discharge tubes?

Power Circuit Protection
1

You may be curious about the classification terminology used for gas discharge tube surge arrestors. What do these terms mean, and how do they affect the parts’ usage?

Gas discharge tubes, often referred to as GDTs, are classified as “High voltage, low voltage; high/low surge resistance capacity”

As an example, let’s examine Littelfuse GTCS23-750M-R01-2

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DigiKey Part Number GTCS23-750M-R01-2TR-ND
Manufacturer Littelfuse Inc.
Manufacturer Product Number GTCS23-750M-R01-2
Description GDT 75V 1KA 2 POLE SURFACE MOUNT
Detailed Description Gas Discharge Tube 75 V 1000A (1kA) ±20% 2 Pole Surface Mount
Datasheet Datasheet

We can find more parameters for voltage and surge capacity in the Datasheet

The withstand voltage of GTCS23-750M-R01-2 can reach 75V DC, and impulse voltage can reach 600V (@1000 V/μs (V))

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Surge Resistance Capacity:

datasheet voltage tables for Littelfuse gas discharge tube GTCS23-750M-R01-2
datasheet voltage tables for Littelfuse gas discharge tube GTCS23-750M-R01-2787×549 95.2 KB

  • “8x20μs” represents the waveform of the surge current; that is, the pulse width is 8 microseconds and the pulse rise time is 20 microseconds. This waveform is a standard waveform used when testing a discharge tube’s tolerance to instant high - energy pulses.
  • “1kA” means that the peak current of each pulse is 1 kiloampere. This means that the discharge tube can withstand a surge current of up to 1 kiloampere per pulse.
  • “10 times” means that the discharge tube can withstand 10 such surge impacts under the above conditions (8x20μs waveform, 1kA current) without damage.

To sum up, this rating indicates that the discharge tube can withstand 10 surge current impacts of 1kA each under the 8x20μs pulse waveform.

More Littelfuse circuit protection products

Littelfuse Circuit Protection products provide stable and reliable signal transmission guarantee for all kinds of precision electronic devices by virtue of their precise adjustment relationship with capacitance, dynamic resistance, etc. in terms of high-frequency characteristics, and their performance is excellent in the industry.

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III. Questions Related to Applications

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