Can anyone tell me what this part , an ARRESTOR maybe?

[onpiopah]

Hi I am working on the power supply of a Plasma TV.
Can you identify this part, the parts lists says it is an ARRESTOR but I can't find any information online about what they do or how they work.

Component A601 on the diagram above (RA362MSV7 )


many thanks

 

[KMoffett]

It's a gas discharge lamp. It acts like a bipolar zener. Its electrode spacing and envelope gas determine the breakdown voltage at which it conducts.

Ken

 

[onpiopah]

Hi, thanks for your reply, what would the purpose in this circuit be. Also i have been advised of the following but did not quite understand the explanation.

it is more like a spark gap where it will prevent any high voltage from killing the circuit. This means if there is any high voltage you could see a blue arc inside the component and the spark gap would not blow

 

[davenn]

This means if there is any high voltage you could see a blue arc inside the component and the spark gap would not blow

the last bit of that is badly worded

the idea is to protect against really hi voltages by discharging them to ground/circuit negative rail
The problem with these is that the voltage where most components in the bit of gear the discharge tube is protecting is far below the discharge voltage. Those parts are still going to fail any way. ( that's for excessive voltages coming from external sources)
That being said, you will often find them in high voltage circuits of TV's older and newer.

Dave

 

[onpiopah]

That makes a lot more sense, and is really helpful.I was surprised I could not find much information on these components either online or in electronic books so thanks again.


Ian