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Until recently, surge protection for all applications including home entertainment and computer systems has been plagued by low endurance, unpredictable performance and safety problems. The new Adcom ACE-315 and 615, with patented ILS™ (If Lightning Strikes) technology, now offer a uniquely effective solution that has earned the U.S. Government's highest ratings.

How ILS™ Technology Works

In order to provide predictably longer lasting protection, a more effective level of surge protection without ground wire contamination, and greater safety, it was necessary to develop a whole new technology.

We went on the premise that if a surge could be sensed and a switch opened during the very brief moment of the surge, then closed immediately after it, the surge would simply disappear with no harm done to the protected equipment, and there would be no contamination of the critical ground wire circuit. A recent world wide study by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) concluded that the industry standard for a power surge has a time of 8 microseconds in Rise Time and its Half Amplitude Duration (a measure of decay time) is 20 microseconds. A powerline cycle, on a 60-cycle AC line, is 16.67 milliseconds in duration (AC lines being 60 cycles per second [in the USA] and a single powerline cycle being 1/60 of a second). The 20 microsecond “standard” surge is less than 1% in duration of the powerline cycle of 16.67 milliseconds. Therefore, if a switch could be developed that would open at times of the power surge and close right after the surge ended, this short opening would have no discernable effect on the performance of the equipment receiving AC power.

This concept is embodied in the Adcom ACE-315 and 615 ILS™ Series-Mode Suppressors.

State-of-the-Art AC Line Enhancement

In addition to the revolutionary ILS™ technology and its uniquely safe and effective handling of power line surges, the ACE-315 and ACE-615 provide superior AC line enhancement by effectively filtering both types of noise interference (radio frequency and electromagnetic) without "choking" the full power line load necessary for dynamic amplifier performance.

The filter response in the Normal Mode (between hot and neutral) is 6 dB @ 10kHz. The filtering effect increases as the frequency increases. This filtering very effectively deals with the kind of AC noise and “hash” generated by vacuum cleaners, compressors in refrigerators, etc. This filtering takes place prior to the surge suppression stage and dramatically enhances audio performance.

The filter response in the Common Mode (between hot and neutral with respect to ground) is 6 dB @ 400kHz. Again, the filtering effect increases at higher frequencies. This filtering pertains primarily to Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). Even though this noise occurs at ultra-sonic frequencies, it can and does overload sensitive audio circuits resulting in various types of distortion within the audible range. The common mode filtering in the ACE-315 and ACE-615 is effective at as low a frequency as can be achieved while still adhering to UL standards, and in fact, its effect begins at a substantially lower frequency than any competitive AC line enhancer!

Advanced Coaxial Cable Protection

The ACE-315 and ACE-615 also offer protection for signals traveling the coax lines. When the IL™ series coax circuit is examined, its unique qualities become readily apparent.

The circuit design is based on strip line technology. This not only shields the circuit from external RF noise, but also allows for proper gas tube placement, strategically located between two ground planes. Improper gas tube placement can result in RF noise, signal quality degradation and "ghosting" (RF reflections). Strip line technology also maintains characteristic impedance, in attention to which can, again, result in ghosting. Even such an apparently simple issue as the length of the gas tube leads can have important ramifications. Our design minimizes lead length thus moving any filtering effect well above the bandwidth of all transmitted video signals.

Additionally the coax circuit is completely isolated. Located as far away from the incoming AC signal as possible and incorporating precisely engineered utilization of isolation washers, the ACE-315 and ACE-615 coax module prevents electrical coupling, RF coupling and ground loops resulting in the best possible video image without degradation from AC noise and distortion.

The Problem with MOV's

With the exception of Adcom ILS™ Suppressors, virtually all other surge protection devices on the market rely on MOV (Metal Oxide Varistor) technology as their first line of defense against power line spikes and surges. Although, depending on their size, they are capable of absorbing some sizeable "hits", MOV’s are sacrificial in nature. That is they degrade with every surge they absorb. If this degradation process were predictable, maintaining adequate protection would simply be an inconvenient matter of replacing the MOV’s on a regular basis. The rate of degradation, however, is not at all predictable. One hit could do it, or it could take a dozen. There’s no reliable way of determining the life span of a MOV in real life applications, which means there has been no way of determining whether the equipment systems were being adequately protected or not.

Another major problem with MOV-based, Shunt-Mode suppressors is that they don’t really "suppress" surge current at all, but rather divert or "shunt" it to the neutral and/or ground wire.

The ground wire carries no equipment load and, under normal circumstances, is assumed to be free from electrical activity and noise. It is therefore used as a very important zero-voltage ground reference in microprocessor-controlled, interconnected audio-video and computer system environments. These environments are highly susceptible to even low levels of noise. So, when a major current surge is diverted to the ground circuit it can have serious consequences in the form of frequent freezes and crashes; lost data and circuit damage; audio hum and buzz; horizontal bars in the video; and random noise in both audio and video signals.

And finally, these MOV-based, Shunt-Mode suppressors can, and occasionally do, get hot, explode and/or catch fire posing a serious threat to safety and property.

A Total Solution

Because no sacrificial components such as MOV’s are used, there are no inherent endurance or safety limitations. Instead, Adcom ILS™ Suppressors utilize state-of-the-art surge reactors that are "transparent" to the normal power wave, but act like an open circuit to surge frequencies. Surge energy is instantaneously diverted away from protected equipment, stored temporarily, then slowly released harmlessly into the neutral circuit, leaving the ground wire unaffected. The Series-Mode use of power protection instantaneously reacts to all surges. These surges include very disruptive, high frequency ones that are too fast for active MOV’s to block. Since MOV’s need time to actually turn on when they sense high voltage, their response time is not as quick as the Series-Mode circuitry used in ILS™ technology products. The ILS™ circuits are always on avoiding any possibility of surges being too fast for the circuits to suppress or eliminate the surge.

The Adcom ACE-315 and 615 represent a completely new dimension in total surge suppression efficacy, coax protection, AC line enhancement and safety. They are also, like all our products, precision engineered and quality manufactured to deliver maximum performance, long lasting reliability and, of course, ultimate Adcom value.

The Government’s Highest Rating

Having experienced a rash of very costly suppressor failures, the U.S. Government set about developing a powerline surge suppressor purchase specification that incorporates user requirements and classifies products for:

This specification is now available to everyone and the ILS™ technology utilized in Adcom’s ACE-315 and 615 was the first to receive the U.S. Government’s highest certification, independently verified by Underwriters Laboratories Inc.®:

No MOV-based Shunt-Mode suppressor has ever been able to meet all three of these standards.

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