As thyristor possesses high surge current capability, it can be used in an electronic crowbar circuit for overcurrent protection of power converters using SCRs. An electronic crowbar protection provides rapid isolation of the power converter before any damage occurs.

Fig. illustrates the basic principle of electronic crowbar protection. A crowbar thyristor is connected across the input d.c. terminals. A current sensing resistor detects the value of converter current. If it exceeds preset value, gate circuit provides the signal to crowbar SCR and turns it on in a few microseconds. The input terminals are then short-circuited by crowbar SCR and it shunts away the converter overcurrent.

The crowbar thyristor current depends upon the source voltage and its impedance. After some time, main fuse interrupts the fault current. The fuse may be replaced by a circuit breaker if SCR has adequate surge current rating.