Facts, fiction, and fallacies in SPD design and applications

After many years since the launching of practical and affordable low-voltage surge-protective devices made possible by the development of metal-oxide varistors and silicon avalanche diodes, several misconceptions or unrealistic expectations still linger among some specifiers and users of these devices. In this paper, we examine "items" that are sometimes cited as facts, but are in reality fiction or fallacies, and we attempt to correct the record.