What was the recommended inspiration for Harold P. Kopp's Zap Trap, according to his high school classmate David Quagliana?

Answer

A suggestion from a store clerk in Buffalo

The conceptual spark for Harold P. Kopp’s Zap Trap in 1941 reportedly came from an interaction during a visit to an electronics store in Buffalo. According to his contemporary, David Quagliana, the store clerk suggested a rudimentary method of protection involving soldering Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs)—though Kopp’s device likely used different technology—onto the power wire and grounding the other side to absorb electrical shocks. This real-world suggestion, intended for basic protection, prompted Kopp to engineer the Zap Trap as a small, self-contained box designed to absorb these electrical shocks before they reached sensitive electronics like a television, establishing the foundational concept of electronic surge suppression for consumers.

What was the recommended inspiration for Harold P. Kopp's Zap Trap, according to his high school classmate David Quagliana?

Related Questions

What device did Harold P. Kopp secure a patent for in 1941 as the first dedicated electronic voltage surge suppressor?Which scientist and team are credited with the discovery of the highly effective, modern Zinc Oxide (ZnO) based MOV in 1967?What term did Carl M. Peterson use for his 1929 patent that represented an early iteration of grouping electrical sockets together?What physical consequence occurs to a Metal-Oxide Varistor (MOV) every time it successfully clamps a surge event?In the evolution of industrial surge arresters, when did Misao Kobayashi’s team at Meidensha introduce the first high-voltage MOV-type arrester?How is the capacity of a quality modern consumer surge protector to absorb energy in a single event quantified?What defining characteristic do Gas Discharge Tubes (GDTs) possess when contrasted with the standard Metal-Oxide Varistor (MOV) in surge suppression?What was the recommended inspiration for Harold P. Kopp's Zap Trap, according to his high school classmate David Quagliana?What common practice involving connecting multiple MOV-based power strips in series is strongly discouraged by safety codes?For 120 VAC devices, what was the commonly cited standard let-through voltage before the adoption of the Voltage Protection Rating (VPR) system?
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