Shunt (electrical)
device which allows electric current to pass around a point in a circuit
A shunt is a device designed to provide a low-impedance path for an electrical current in a circuit. It is typically used to divert current away from a system or component in order to prevent overcurrent. Electrical shunts are used in a wide variety of applications including power distribution systems, electrical measurement systems, automotive and marine applications. Shunts take many physical forms depending on their application. In current measurement, a shunt is a resistor of very low but precisely known resistance placed in parallel with a meter, allowing large currents to be measured indirectly via the voltage drop across it. In circuit protection, shunt devices such as crowbar circuits guard against overvoltage by short-circuiting the supply. Capacitors are employed as shunts to redirect high-frequency electrical noise to ground. In photovoltaics, the term describes an unwanted short circuit within a solar cell, while in lightning protection, gas-filled tubes act as shunts to safely conduct surge energy to ground. On warships, battle short shunts are installed across fuses for essential equipment before entering combat.
Defective device bypass
One example is in miniature Christmas lights which are wired in series.
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This entry incorporates text from “Shunt (electrical)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.