Distribution arresters have been used on power systems for over a century during which time there has been a complete changeover in housings from ceramic to polymeric. Porcelain arresters often had issues with sealing and water ingress that sometimes resulted in ‘clear sky, sunny day’ failures.

A surge arrester is a device to protect electrical equipment from over-voltage transients caused by external (lightning) or internal (switching) events.

As surge protective devices, arresters mitigate the impact of events that might otherwise trigger outages.