SURGE ARRESTER WITH RIGID INSULATING HOUSING

SURGE ARRESTER WITH RIGID INSULATING HOUSING To control the direction of movement and prevent random scattering of fragments of MOV blocks resulting from the catastrophic failure of such blocks during overvoltage incidents, a stack of such MOV blocks with end fittings attached is placed within a rigid filament-wound epoxy-impregnated tube formed as one continuous tube or a tube made up of aligned tube segments positioned so as to establish a preferred failure direction; the interstices between the interior of such tube and the exterior of said blocks and end fittings are filled with a dielectric insulative material which extends beyond and engulfs said tube and said end fittings to seal and further rigidify said component stack and provide an air-free non-electrically ionizable environment about said component stack.