overvoltage crowbar

overvoltage crowbar

[¦ō·vər¦vōl·tij ′krō‚bär]

(electricity)

A circuit that monitors the output of a power supply and prevents the output voltage from exceeding a preset voltage, under any failure condition, by having a low resistance (crowbar) placed across the output terminals when an overvoltage occurs.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.