Surge Suppression

Digilant’s Bantam technology uses a unique approach that offers unmatched surge and spike protection. The surge or spike energy is not dumped to ground but is absorbed and dissipated by the magnetic fields maintained by the proprietary inductors. This solution is so effective that this circuit easily passes extreme surge testing, such as the waveforms found in IEEE Catalog A, C62.41-1991.  The technology has been subjected to a repeated sequence (over 1,200) of these 6,000 volt, and 3,000 amp surges over a 24-hour period with no damage to the Bantam circuit, but more importantly, no damage or disruption to the protected load. The circuit’s balanced magnetic field pro-actively anticipates the surge (inductors abhor a change in current) and effectively reduces the ramp of the surge energy.  We design our inductors so that they do not saturate under surge conditions.

Power Conditioning

Today’s electronics (e.g. computers, servers, home entertainment, professional audio systems, process controllers) are current- and ground-sensitive, but are also robustly designed to function within a typical voltage range of 85 to 230 VAC. The presence of unstable current and/or a noisy grounding path are among the vulnerabilities of modern electronics. Yet, all other protective devices on the market focus on controlling voltage, typically by redirecting excess energy to the grounding path. Only the Bantam patented technology focuses on optimizing current flow and protecting the grounding path from contamination by filtering all three wires –  line, neutral and ground. The Bantam technology is very effective at smoothing the resulting current spike and voltage fluctuation that a circuit will experience when a fan motor, air conditioner compressor, audio amplifier, or pool pump starts.  How?  The proprietary inductors are the key to providing just the right amount of magnetic force and magnetic field density necessary to filter effectively, reduce power consumption and extend the expected life of all equipment connected to the Bantam.

Clean Grounding Path

As more computing devices are connected to a network power circuit, the more important a clean ground has become. Computers utilize the electrical ground for two purposes 1) primarily as a safety path for internal electrical faults to protect humans and 2) as a reference to differentiate between 0 and 1 in data encoding. Simply put, a voltage spike or “blip” on ground can, for example, cause a “0” to appear as a “1” to the computer. Other surge protectors, power conditioners, and voltage regulators redirect their power pollution to ground in various manners.  These redirecting events often exceed the 1/10th volt (0.01 Vdc) blip that can corrupt computer code. IT departments are known to invest in an isolated or designated ground to protect sensitive computers from just this problem. The Bantam is the only technology that protects and filters the line, neutral and ground without redirecting energy pollution to the grounding path. Plugging your computer into a Bantam eliminates the need to invest in an isolated or designated ground for the purpose of obtaining a “clean” ground.

System Security

Computer and system hacking and infiltration via the ground wire is blocked because Bantam technology filters the ground in addition to line and neutral. Often called a “Power-Line Exploit,” this is a type EMR that was evaluated under the TEMPEST project, or Compromising Emissions, where hackers grab keystroke signals that leak into the ground wire and travel through the home or business electrical power system. This hacking method uses voltage fluctuations in the ground wire to decipher and record key-strokes. Any computer, point of sale system, or ATM using a keyboard and connected to a power line, either via plug or hard wire, is vulnerable to Power-Line Exploit; unless you are protected by the Bantam.

Harmonic Attenuation

Motor controllers, rectifiers, radio, TVs, computers, servers, audio systems, and home entertainment all contribute unwanted frequencies back into the power line, which spreads this pollution to all devices sharing the power. What these modern devices have in common is a “switched-mode” or non-linear power supply.  An SMPS converts AC to DC by sampling only the peaks of the AC and discarding the slopes, which become both harmonics and wasted energy.  Often referred to as noise, harmonics, and distortion, these extra, unwanted harmonic frequencies pollute a clean AC power sine wave, contributing to the stress of the devices using the power. How are the creating stresses?  Harmonics are current frequencies that still flow through a load, introducing heat.  Most power filters or line filters are frequency specific, designed to address a specific, and often narrow, frequency range. The Bantam technology is a broad-spectrum filter and will effectively filter from 1Khz to 1MHz on line and neutral to -30 dBV and to -20dBV on ground. In addition, the Bantam technology will reduce odd numbered harmonics by up to 40% and eliminate all above the 50th harmonic. Since harmonics increase current usage, the Bantam’s concentration on current efficiency contributes to reduced current usage, lower heat, and extended equipment life.

Power Factor Correction

The Power Factor of an AC electric power system is the ratio of real power utilized by the load (device) divided by the apparent power in the circuit. Apparent power is the maximum capacity of a circuit to deliver power, real power is the actual power used in the circuit and is always lower than apparent power. The closer real power is to apparent power, the higher the power factor and efficiency of the system. Many electronic devices hold a portion of the apparent power briefly in magnetic fields or capacitive plates, then return it out-of-phase to the circuit. In capacitive power factor circumstances (e.g. home and office electronics) the Bantam solution can improve power factor up to 30%.

Power Conditioning • Harmonic Atttenuation • EMI/RFI Filtering

The Bantam circuit will Condition, Attenuate, and Filter non-fundamental frequencies starting above 60HZ and going up to 1Ghz as reported by National Test Labs (NTS) in Hunttsville AL and Plano TX. Link to NTS Evaluation.

• The Bantam filter technology is bi-directional
• Bantam provides up to 20dB of bi-directional common mode insertion loss up to 30MHz
• Bantam provides up tto 30dB of bi-directional Differential mode insertion loss up to 30MHz
• Bantam provides up to 15dB of bi-directional Current Harmonic Suppression up to 10KHz
• Bantams’ 20dB suppression provides significant EMI/RFI suppression from 1MHZ to 20MHz

70% of power pollution is perssistent and the result of power pollution from other electronics that are either on local shared home or business wall power circuits, or…

Surge and Transient Protection

The Bantam circuit was tested at 6000 volts, 3000 amps, and absorbed this energy over 1800 times in 24 hours without damage to protected electtronics of loss of Bantam effectiveness. 

• Protection from Lightning. Certified to UL 1449 3rd Edition.
  • Not delay in protection. Bantam is working at the inception of the surge. 
  • Extreme Joules of energy will be delayed and absorbed. 
• No power pollution is dumped to ground. 
• The Bantam technology will delay Arc Flash Energy long enough to allow breakers to trip.
• Bantam does not use capacitors for surge diversion, unlike typical Series Mode suppressors.
• Bantam products using the Pantented Circuit have a Lifetime Warranty.

Energy Surges and spikes usually originate outside the wiring in your home or business. They are random, and represent less than 20% of the power anomalies equipment will experience. Lightning is an extreme example of an outside energy surge, but power spikes and surges caused by the starting and stopping of heavy equipment, motors, elevators, air conditioners, and spa pumps originating in adjacent facilities are more common examples.