How is a lightning arrester different from a surge arrester
Lighting arrester is installed to protect a building, equipment or edifice against thunder generated lighting, so it protects entire area installed. Whereas surge arrester is like phase failure that protects against sudden rise of voltages or low voltage. Lightning arrester is normally installed at the highest level of the building to protect the building and all is contained from lightning or to arrest lightning to avoid damaging the building and all is contained, while surge arrester is installed inside the panel to arrest unwanted current that flows into the panel.
Surge arrester are used to protect from high surge/voltage caused by system fault. Lightning arresters are used to protect equipment from high voltage generated by Lightning .Lightning Arrestors redirect the lightning charge for safe discharge to ground. They attract lightning due to their height and their pointy rods that have a small cross sectional area that allows for greater charge density than the immediate surroundings. Surge Arrestors redirect voltage surges for safe discharge to ground. They’re shunt connected to ground and act as high impedance devices at system voltage and low impedance devices when system voltage/design voltage is exceeded. Most use Metal Oxide Varistor