Present-day electronic devices are often faced with short-term increases in voltage or current such as inrush current during electronics turn-on, transient load when transformers or motors are energized, capacitor charging or discharging, electrostatic discharge sparks, lightning strikes or overcurrent caused by malfunction of the circuit or mixed up lines.
Bourns provides a wide selection of resistors able to withstand such short duration impulse events, up to rated limits.
The maximum pulse capability of the resistors is specified in each product data sheet.
The pulse power and pulse energy graph below shows the maximal power or energy to be applied to the resistor over a given time period.
Example of CMP Series Thick Film Chip Resistor Peak Pulse vs. Duration